Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has launched his new podcast Shred With Shifty, with the first episode being an hour-long discussion with Rush's Alex Lifeson. You can watch the episode below or on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. From the description:

... Shiflett learns the solo from Rush's "Limelight" with a little help from the man who wrote it, Alex Lifeson. According to Shiflett, Lifeson's lead on the song "does exactly what a great solo should do. It's a scene change, it's kind of emotional, it builds, and yes, it shreds."

Shiflett recalls that in context, both "Limelight" and Moving Pictures, the 1981 Rush record that featured the track, were stylistic and structural departures from the rock 'n' roll fare of the day. Compared to Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and KISS, the Canadian prog-rock trio was practically avant-garde.

Lifeson joins Shiflett from a meticulously maintained studio den he built in his apartment ("I'm a Virgo," Lifeson admits), and talks about early influences like Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, and Andy Summers. The first solo he learned was from Cream's "Spoonful," but even after Rush's international success, he says he never felt confident in his ability. "I've always been a little bit insecure about my playing," he says. "I always felt like I could be better than I was." And despite Rush's infamously complex arrangements and each member's dazzling technicality, Lifeson remembers that there were occasionally some "trainwrecks" onstage. "With our music, if you got lost, boy, it was hard to get back," he grins.

While memories of the "Limelight" sessions are imperfect ("That was 43 years ago. I can't remember things from 40 minutes ago," Lifeson quips), the guitarist recalls using a modded Stratocaster with a vibrato arm to record the song's solo in five or six takes, which bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee and producer Terry Brown then comped into the final version. The idea was to create a solo that reflected the isolation and fragility of "living in the limelight." "I really wanted to echo that feeling and that sense of loneliness," he says. ...

The show is produced by Double Elvis, and features Shiflett asking his guitar-playing guests about their musical history and inspirations. Other guests lined up to appear include Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Chic's Nile Rodgers, Brad Paisley, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora, Brothers Osborne's John Osborne, Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr, Lindsay Ell, Brent Mason and Jawbreaker's Blake Schwarzenbach.

Earlier this week, Alex Lifeson and Gibson announced the release of a new Ruby Alex Lifeson signature Epiphone Les Paul Custom Axcess, as detailed in this new video featuring Alex showing off the new guitar. From the announcement:

... Created through extensive work with Alex Lifeson and Gibson, the Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess similarly redefines the boundaries of the classic Les Paul in an accessible, versatile package. This guitar carries all of the traditional tones that have made the Les Paul legendary, along with unprecedented levels of sonic and performance agility.

Developed in close partnership with Alex, his new artist model Les Paul Custom features a signature single cutaway with belly scarf for added comfort when holding or sitting with the guitar. As for tonewoods, the mahogany body with AAAA Quilt Maple veneer provides the warmth and resonance you need from a Les Paul but with the added high-end snap for solos and guitar lead lines. Finished in a Ruby gloss with white top binding for a standout look, the guitar builds on the original Axcess Crimson model, refreshing it for 2023 in a new exciting finish. The Ebony fingerboard with medium jumbo frets is comfortable on the fingers, adding a subtle warmth in tonality and the rounded Axcess neck profile with Axcess heel, allows you to get to the higher registers with ease.

The black gloss Kalamazoo Epiphone headstock with Mother of Pearl Epiphone and Custom Split Diamond logo, features signature embellishments such as the short bell truss rod cover with Alex Lifeson's signature, and white binding.

The Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess Standard carries powerful Epiphone Ceramic Pro neck and ProBucker 3 bridge pickups with push/pull coil splitting on the volume controls, along with a Floyd Rose 1000 Series tremolo-the world's most efficient vibrato.

Along with all this, the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess still presents that timeless Les Paul look that has remained a classic for more than 60 years.

Finally, gigging musicians will appreciate the included hardshell case, keeping your guitar safe in transit. ...

The guitar is now available for purchase via the Epiphone website here.

Back in August of 2021 Rush teamed up with Henderson Brewing Company to release their first Rush-branded beer - Rush Canadian Golden Ale - and followed that up with Moving Pictures Ale later that year, Moving Pitchers beer last March, Signals 40th anniversary Belgian Ale back in October, and Xanabrew which launched back in May. They've also teamed up on an entire line of Rush-branded merchandise which you can find in their online Rush store, and they'll be opening up a Rush-themed Henderson Brewery at Toronto airport later this year. Earlier this week they announced that they'll be hosting a Rush Day event at their brewery in Toronto next month on Saturday, August 26th. The event will feature Rush trivia, limited edition items, Rush memorabilia, a screening of the Time Stand Still documentary, and - of course - lots of Rush beer! Attendees also will have the option to purchase a Rush Day Growler with their FREE ticket. You can get all the details and reserve a spot here.

Rush's Alex Lifeson has a small role in the new Canadian horror film The Breach, which is based on a book by horror novelist Nick Cutter (aka Craig Davidson) with the screenplay co-written by him and Ian Weir. The film was directed by Mexican-Canadian Rodrigo Gudiño, and produced by Toronto's Hangar 18 Media with Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash as an executive producer. It was filmed in Parry Sound, ON during September 2020 with an all-Canadian cast and crew, and starring Allan Hawco, Natalie Brown, Emily Alatalo and Wesley French, and Rush's Alex Lifeson. The film is set in the tiny Northern Ontario town of Lone Crow and follows Police Chief John Hawkins as he tries to solve a mysterious murder case. Alex Lifeson plays the role of conspiracy theorist named Alex and appears briefly in the film's trailer starting around the 1:05 mark. Alex is on a Zoom call explaining the origins of the mystery to someone, and says:

Black magic rituals. They are opening the gates of hell here. And I'm telling you - Parsons - he's at the center of it!

The Breach had its world premiere at the Fantasia international film festival in Montreal last year, and is now available in the US digitally and on-demand as of earlier this month. Currently it's available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play and Vudu. You can watch a trailer for the film on YouTube here. Filmmaker Rodrigo Gudino was recently interviewed for EyeForFilm.co.uk to discuss the film, and had this to say regarding Alex Lifeson's role:

... I suggest that there's a level of of comedy, as well, at least for people who have read their Lovecraft, when we're going down into the basement or steps are coming down from the attic in the middle of the night. He smiles. "Yes, absolutely. There's definitely a lot of that element, and I think also with the character of Alex Lifeson, who's the guy on the computer. He talks to Connie, the police officer, and I wanted some levity in there, and I wanted to bring up these ideas in a more light hearted manner. That worked for me, anyway." ...

The Rush Backstage Club is running a contest where they are giving away a set of limited edition Moving Pictures lyric sheets - originally included in the album's 40th Anniversary box set. The contest runs through the end of the month, and you can get all the details at this location.

This past Friday Ultimate-Guitar.com posted their list of the 20 Best Songs for Introducing Someone to Guitar-oriented Music, and Rush's The Spirit of Radio made the cut at #11:

And who wouldn't get inspired by Alex Lifeson? Of course, "The Spirit of Radio" is just one of many examples by Rush that we could mention. But a song that opens up with that particular guitar lick is bound to get anyone addicted to guitar-based music.

American Songwriter posted an article this past week where they used AI to create 4 Fictional Rock Supergroups, one of which is called Thunderstorm Symphony. This fictional powerhouse of a band includes Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) on guitar, Geddy Lee (Rush) on bass and vocals, Neil Peart (Rush) on drums, and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) on guitar:

... Two of Rush's finest get together with Led Zeppelin's wondrous guitar player Jimmy Page and Pink Floyd songwriter and guitar player David Gilmour. Far out is an understatement.

Yardbarker.com posted their list of the best final albums of all time this past week and Rush's Clockwork Angels was included at #24:

In terms of the Rush hierarchy of work, Clockwork Angels, the band's 19th studio release, probably doesn't rate top-10 consideration. However, for this late in the band's remarkable career, it remains an ambitious and concise concept album. Much like many of those records from the second half of Rush's career, Clockwork Angels isn't consistently lauded by die-hards of the band, but it received steady critical praise. In fact, the late Neil Peart's lyrics were as strong as ever. Bookend tracks "Caravan" and the severely underrated "The Garden" are solid examples of that claim.

MusicInMinnesota.com posted their list of the 29 Best Drummers of All Time this past week, and Rush's Neil Peart made the cut at #12:

Who is the most technically skilled drummer? It'd be hard-pressed not to give that honor to Rush's Neil Peart. He made the cover of Modern Drummer magazine nine times, and it's easy to see why. His virtuoso drumming was the most impressive part of Rush's sound. Simply, seminal rock band Rush would not be what it was without Neil Peart.

Legendary mastering engineer Bob Ludwig announced his retirement a few weeks ago as detailed in this article (thanks RushFanForever). Ludwig opened his own record-mastering facility in Portland, Maine, Gateway Mastering, in 1992, where he served as president and chief mastering engineer. In 1998, he was joined by mastering engineer Adam Ayan, who on June 30, 2023, revealed that Gateway was closing. Ludwig might be familiar to Rush fans due to his work on Rush's Moving Pictures.

In this week's episode of Rush Roundtable (#190) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel kicks off their Counterparts song discussions with the album's opening track Animate:

Happy Bastille Day everyone! On this day 234 years ago back in 1789, Parisians stormed the Bastille, freeing its inmates and taking the prison's large quantities of arms and ammunition, thereby setting in motion the French Revolution. More importantly, back in 1975 Rush decided to write a song about it. There's no bread, let them eat cake! That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!