Back in late 2023, Geddy Lee wrote a book of baseball stories titled 72 Stories from the Collection of Geddy Lee that he included as part of a package given to the winning bidders in a baseball auction that included much of Ged's extensive collection. He then announced via Instagram back in October of last year that he would be releasing the book for wide distribution sometime in 2025. A special, limited-edition version of the book was briefly made available around Christmas at the Rush Backstage Club. That edition is autographed, and comes encased in a red cloth-bound slipcase which includes an exclusive, custom-made Geddy Lee baseball, created specifically for this project. The standard version of the book will be available in the fall, with a slated release date of September 30th (just in time for the MLB playoffs) and pre-orders available here. And if you missed out on the special edition last year, it's been made available again, and you can order one at this location. John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted an excerpt from the book's Introduction and made it available online here.
Back in 2021 Geddy Lee in partnership with Tech 21 released a special MP40 SansAmp commemorating the 40th anniversary of Moving Pictures, and built on the bones of his YYZ Signature SansAmp. Earlier this week Geddy announced the release of a special, charity edition of the SansAmp, as detailed in this Reverb.com article:
Geddy Lee and Tech 21 are back with something truly special-and quite personal. The Rush frontman has unveiled a limited run of his MP40 Signature SansAmp, now in a Special Charity Edition exclusively available on Reverb. Only 200 of these pedals are being made, and each one is personally signed by Geddy himself. ... this new edition features exclusive Moon Records-inspired artwork and a striking red enclosure. But what really sets this release apart is the cause behind it. A portion of the proceeds will go to two charities close to the band's heart, both honoring the legacy of Neil Peart. One supports the Neil Peart Memorial at Lakeside Park in St. Catharines, Ontario-Neil's hometown and the inspiration behind the song "Lakeside Park." The other is Cedars-Sinai's glioblastoma research program in Los Angeles, where Neil received treatment in the final years of his life. ...
Unfortunately (or fortunately in terms of the amount raised) all 200 of the signed SansAmps are now SOLD OUT.
The inaugural RUSHfest Canada event will be taking place in just 2 weeks on August 1-2 in Toronto in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Rush's final show. The Friday night showcase event takes place at Massey Hall, the legendary venue where Rush recorded their first live album All The World's A Stage in 1975. Special guests include former Rush producer Terry Brown and album artist Hugh Syme, along with Jonathan Dinklage, Jacob Moon, Nina DiGregorio & Brody Dolynuik (from Femmes of Rock, endorsed by Alex Lifeson himself), Chris Herin (Tiles), David Barrett, Adi Berk, Moving Pictures (UK tribute band), and author Kevin J. Anderson. The Saturday event takes place at TD Music Hall and will include performances from Rush tribute bands 2112 and Permanent Waves, along with The RUSHfest Canada Allstars Band (international lineup of handpicked musicians), Jacob Moon, David Barrett, and DiGregorio & Dolynuik. You can all the details in this article.
A mysterious new project spearheaded by the Rheostatics' Dave Bidini and involving Rush's Alex Lifeson will be seeing the light of day this coming November. According to some social media posts from Bidini and others involved, the project held a listening party back in May at Toronto's Noble Street Studios. And earlier this week Bidini posted yet another photo of the people involved, teasing us with this comment: "The forces are amassing. News imminent about cool stuff!". The project was first introduced via an Instagram post back in early March teasing a project called The Great Lakes Suite, and depicting an image of the Great Lakes region with some ethereal backing music, and a list of the people involved; Dave Bidini, Dave Clark, Hugh Marsh, and Martin Tielli of the Rheostatics, along with BNL's Kevin Hearn (also a member of the Rheostatics), Don Kerr and Alex Lifeson. Alex also spoke a little about the project in a few of his interviews promoting Envy of None's Stygian Wavz back in March/April. In a March AllMusic.com interview, Alex said the following:
... I'm still working on a documentary on the Great Lakes with a bunch of people - some guys from Barenaked Ladies, from the Rheostatics. We've been working on this for a while. It's an interesting project, because we get together and we jam, and then we start pulling stuff out of those jams and then building from those. And a lot of the jams, as we progress, get better and better and better, and stand alone as parts." ...
So Alex refers to the project as a documentary, despite the fact that it sounds more like a musical project and/or film. Bidini also suggests that they might do a few lift-off, live shows in a few recent social media posts. Stay tuned!
Envy of None vocalist Maiah Wynne was the latest guest on the Something for Nothing podcast where she gives an in-depth examination of the band's sophomore album Stygian Wavz. This first episode was published last week and focuses on the album's first 5 songs: Not Dead Yet, The Story, Under the Stars, Thrill of the Chase, and Handle With Care. Part 2 was released this past week, and covers Maiah's solo album, Out of the Dark, and side B of Stygian Wavz: That Was Then, Raindrops, New Trip, Clouds, The End, and Stygian Wavz. You can listen to the discussion below or wherever you get your podcasts:
Eric Alper published a post this past week where he highlights 5 Surprising Facts About Rush's Moving Pictures, most of which diehard Rush fans already know. But if you're curious, here are the 5 facts:
1. "YYZ" literally spells Toronto
2. "Tom Sawyer" almost didn't make it out of the studio
3. The cover art is actually three covers in one
4. "Red Barchetta" was inspired by a car magazine short story
5. The crowd chatter on "Witch Hunt" came from a freezing driveway
8 years ago today, on July 18, 2017 the Take Off, Eh! - Bob and Doug McKenzie Live Reunion fundraiser for spinal cord research took place. Geddy Lee made a surprise appearance with the McKenzie Brothers to perform Take Off as seen in this clip. The show raised $325K for Dave Thomas' nephew Jake Thomas, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a snowmobiling accident. Funds also went to Spinal Cord Injury Ontario.
The Rushfans YouTube channel kicked off a new series this past week called Rush Starman Hangman - a twist on the classic Hangman game using Rush lyrics. You can check it out their first episode here:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!!
