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Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Mon, Nov 25, 2024

Geddy Lee appearance on AXS TV's The Big Interview with Dan Rather tonight

Tue, Oct 24, 2017@3:55PM | comments

UPDATE - 1/31@11:11AM: The full interview has found its way to YouTube (at least until it gets taken down):

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UPDATE - 11/13@11:33AM: The interview is now on iTunes too.

UPDATE - 10/28@4:17PM: Dan Rather posted a clip from the interview where he speaks with Geddy about his parents and how they were Holocaust survivors:

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UPDATE - 10/25@1:42PM: The episode is now available to purchase digitally for $2 at this location.

UPDATE - 10/24@10:52PM: Here's a general overview and summary of the interview. After a video introduction highlighting Rush's career, Dan kicked off the interview - conducted at Geddy's home in Toronto - by asking Geddy about his childhood and how he got into music. Nothing really new here except that Geddy's neighborhood band when he was a teenager was apparently called The Dusty Coconuts! In the 2nd segment Geddy talks about his bandmates and how their close friendship helped make Rush a success and was a key to the band's longevity. They also touched on Rush's early goal of being the world's smallest symphony orchestra. The next segment kicked off with a montage of footage of Rush fans, and then Dan and Geddy get into a discussion about Rush fandom - much of which was shown in this preview clip. They go on to discuss their mutual love of baseball, and in the following segment Geddy gives Dan a tour of his baseball memorabilia collection as seen in this clip. Geddy then discusses the band's 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. In the next segment Geddy talks about who he is as a person - outside of his professional persona as the front-man of Rush as seen in this clip. He talks about his current family life - being a husband, father and grandfather. Dan then asks him about how he got the name Geddy - a story most Rush fans already know. This led into a discussion about his parents and how they were both Holocaust survivors - something Geddy has spoken about quite a bit in recent years. In the final segment, Dan asks Geddy what he's up to currently and about his plans for the future. Geddy talks about his book project and then Dan asks him about touring:

No plans for touring right now... at all. ... I'm not sure that Rush as the 3-piece that people know will ever tour again at this point. It's highly unlikely. But I would say that ... this is the first time in my life that I've spent 6 months in my home and in my hometown without going to an airport. I've watched the garden go from being frozen solid in winter, watched the buds come up for the first time, watched all the various nuances of my home garden come to life - and it's been so good for me. It's been so edifying to see my hometown and to live as a normal person lives. I know most people take that for granted but for me it's been quite special. I'm really not in a hurry, and I know there will come a time when I will have to feed the beast - when I have to get down to the studio and write. And I still go down there and put ideas on tape and I know they're not going anywhere. So when the moment is right, and it feels right, and I'm ready to go out and do battle out there then I'll put something together and I'll go do that. ... it's a bit early to say [whether I'll record or tour], but probably a little bit of both. Invariably if I put music together that I'm proud of, I'll want to play it for someone. ...

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UPDATE - 10/24@9:30PM: After a video introduction highlighting Rush's career, Dan kicked off the interview - conducted at Geddy's home in Toronto - by asking Geddy about his childhood and how he got into music. Apparently Geddy's neighborhood band when he was a teenager was called The Dusty Coconuts! :)

Geddy Lee will be the guest on the AXS TV interview series The Big Interview with Dan Rather tonight at 9PM EST. In the past week leading up to tonight's broadcast, AXS TV has been posting several preview/bonus clips from the episode including this 5-minute clip where Geddy talks about Rush fandom. There's this 2-minute preview clip where Geddy shows Dan his baseball memorabilia collection and talks about throwing out the first pitch at the Blue Jays home opener a few years ago, and singing the Canadian National Anthem at an All-Star game back in the '90s. In another 2-minute clip Geddy talks about who he is as a person - outside of his professional persona as the front-man of Rush. Geddy talks about the recording of A Farewell to Kings in this bonus clip, and there's also this short promo clip where Geddy talks a little about Rush's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. For those who don't have access to AXS TV, the episode will be made available for digital purchase the following day for $2 at this location. I'll also be updating this post, along with the RIAB Twitter feed, with highlights from the interview as it happens.

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