UPDATE - 7/30@7:27AM: Geddy spent his birthday at the Toronto Blue Jays game and the announcers took some time out to wish Ged a happy birthday:
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On this day back in 1953, our favorite singer/bassist - Gary Lee Weinrib (aka Geddy Lee) - was born in Willowdale, Toronto. That makes Geddy 63 years young today! Not only is today Geddy's birthday, but it also marks the 42nd anniversary of one of the most important events in Rush history; 42 years ago on July 29th, 1974, Neil Peart joined Rush, replacing original drummer John Rutsey. He's been the new guy in the band ever since. The day after Neil joined the band Rush bought equipment for their first tour at Long and McQuade Music in Toronto, including Geddy's black Rickenbacker, Alex's Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and Neil's Slingerland kit (aka Chromey)... and the rest - as they say - is history. Happy birthday Geddy! And happy 42nd anniversary to the new guy!
We learned a few weeks ago that Alex Lifeson will be making a guest appearance on Triumph guitarist Rik Emmett's new solo project RESolution9 (Rik Emmett Resolution 9). Yesterday Mascot Label Group announced (thanks RushFanForever) the signing of RESolution9 to a multi-album deal and revealed some more details including that the album will have a tentative release date of November, 2016, and that Alex Lifeson plays on 2 of the 11 tracks on the album:
... The members of RESolution9 are from Rik's touring quartet: Dave Dunlop on guitar, Steve Skingley on bass, and Paul DeLong on drums, with Dave and Steve co-producing the project. Much of the album was recorded and mixed at Mississauga's famed MetalWorks Studios, where Rik enjoyed a profoundly comfortable re-connectivity to his own roots. In fact, the other two founding members of Triumph (Gil Moore and Mike Levine, from the trio that received 18 gold and 9 platinum awards in Canada and the U.S. in the 70's & 80's) reunite with Rik as special guests on "The Grand Parade", a song that conjures 1979's "Suitcase Blues". Additionally, legendary guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush performs on two stellar tracks, with James LaBrie of Dream Theater contributing extraordinary guest vocals on two cuts as well. ...
Yesterday John over at the Cygnus-X1.net announced a new section of his website where he'll be posting a collection of the 1990s-era Rush fanzine A Show of Fans. From Cygnus-X1.net:
...When the 'A Show of Fans' fanzine was first released back in 1991, it immediately stood apart from other fanzines of the time, thanks to its polished and professional format. Each issue was filled with incredible content, including articles, reviews, news, artwork, photographs, letters, advertisements, and more. Yet unlike other fanzines of the time, ASOF was printed, not photocopied, on high-quality glossy paper, typically in multiple colors. So much style with substance. ...
John currently has scans of the first 3 issues available in the archive, and will be posting more issues every week for the remainder of 2016. You can check out the archive online at this location.
A few months ago Clockwork Angels/Clockwork Lives author Kevin J. Anderson along with co-editor John McFetridge released an anthology of Rush-themed stories titled 2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush. Claudio D'Andrea recently posted a review of the book for Medium.com and had the following to say regarding the title story:
... Anderson hews closely to the original story through most of "2113" and at first I felt disappointment, a sense that this was a bit of a ripoff from the original. But his sequel takes a turn and concludes with a bit of a twist that's sure to delight Rush fans who have followed the band through to their last studio album, Clockwork Angels. It also brought a smile to this reviewer's face since I found a similar analogy between two of the band's dystopian visions and was inspired to write about it elsewhere. Because, when it comes down to it, that's what Rush does - inspires its fans to do their own thing whether it's playing music, writing stories or even putting together a book review. And 2113 is chock-full of inspiring, and inspired, tales to satisfy the reader. Plus it has a great cover.
You can purchase your copy of 2113 for Kindle, Audible, or get the paperback edition here.
TeamRock.com posted an article this past week on the subjec of The 10 Best History Lessons In Rock and Rush's Bastille Day gets some attention (thanks RushFanForever):
A number from the early days of the Canadian experimental metallers that takes a literal lyrical look at the events leading up to the French revolution of 1789. Featuring a memorable speedy riff from Alex Lifeson and a suitably hysterical vocal performance from Geddy Lee, this is one of Rush's more straightahead rockers, and it really hits the spot. "La guillotine will claim her bloody prize," explains Lee. He knows his history, that boy!
Brad McEwen of the Albany Herald posted an article defending the music of the 1980s this past week and mentions Rush:
"Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions" - Rush. Rush doesn't suck. Ergo the'80s don't suck. The nerds have it.
BlogTO posted an article yesterday profiling 10 iconic Toronto album covers and Rush's Moving Pictures is featured (thanks RushFanForever):
Perhaps the best-known of Toronto-based album covers, Moving Pictures features the front steps and facade of the provincial legislature at Queen's Park. The album art is famously a triple entendre, with works moving pictures that emotionally resonate with onlookers, all of which is stage for a movie (moving picture) on the back cover.
Legendary punk rockers The Melvins recently released a new album titled Basses Loaded which feature six different bass players. In an interview conducted last week (thanks RushFanForever) at Hellfest the band discusses the album and at about the 3-minute mark when listing off all the bass players they jokingly mention that Geddy Lee from Rush appears on one track (he doesn't):
It's a secret bonus track - the Geddy Lee track. Keep looking. It's not on every CD. Keep buying them and looking.
As mentioned above, Neil Peart officially became a member of Rush 42 years ago back on July 29, 1974. Just 2 weeks after joining the band, Neil played his first show with the band at the Civic Center Arena in Pittsburgh opening for Uriah Heap and Manfred Mann. Here's an audio recording of Finding My Way from that show:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
