Rush's Alex Lifeson recently sat down for a new, gear-centric interview with Scott Kahn of MusicPlayers.com to talk about his new line of Lerxst Amplifiers, his LERXST Limelight signature guitar, his work with Rush, Envy of None and his many other side projects, and much more. You can watch the entire 20-minute interview below or on YouTube. Speaking of LERXST Amps, Alex announced yesterday that his new Lerxst By-Tor drive pedal is getting a full production run:
... Lifeson's signature 50-watt OMEGA amplifier was designed as a versatile sonic platform offering a wide range of clean and distorted guitar sounds. Seeking a way to bring those same overdriven and distorted tones to pedalboards, Lifeson and the craftsman at Mojotone collaborated on the creation of his first signature pedal - The By-Tor. By-Tor replicates the intensity and growl of the OMEGA with a unique circuit design to put a wide range of overdriven sounds at player's fingertips. The Drive side features interactive Gain, Tone, and Level controls to dial in everything from mild amp-like grit to a fat, soaring lead sound. The Boost side of the pedal is a 6dB JFET-based gain stage that adds shimmer and chime in addition to volume. By-Tor's order switch also allows players to place the boost either before or after the Drive, allowing for even more gain or a volume bump for lead playing. As with all Mojotone products, By-Tor is handcrafted in the USA with top-quality components for years of trouble-free use at home, on stage, or in the studio. "By-Tor gives me every distorted sound I've come to know and love from my OMEGA amps in a small box," said Lifeson. "The folks at Mojotone have done a wonderful job capturing OMEGA's vibe and tonality with something that I can show up to the gig with, plug into any clean amplifier, and get my sound."...
You can learn more about the LERXST By-Tor at lerxstamps.com, and see a demonstration of the pedal in action on YouTube.
To commemorate the 4th anniversary of the passing of Neil Peart last month, Rush tribute band YYNOT hosted their 2nd annual Bubba Bash in celebration of The Professor at the Keswick Theatre outside Philly (Glenside, PA) on Saturday, January 6th. The show was "In Celebration of Neil Peart", and featured YYNOT along with special guests Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, etc.), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Overkill, etc.), Jon Dinklage (Clockwork Angels string ensemble), Joe Bergamini (drum instructor, author, etc.), John Wesley (Porcupine Tree), Seven Antonopoulos (Opiate for the Masses), and more. All proceeds from the show go to benefit Cedars Sinai Hospital, and you can send along your donation here. The show was professionally filmed, and the band began posting pro-shot video from the event a few weeks ago including a performance of YYZ with special guest Mike Portnoy which you can watch here, a performance of Hemispheres: Prelude featuring Ed Toth, and Afterimage featuring Jason Bittner and John Wesley. For their latest offering, there's this video of Anthem with Frank Bello. Be sure to follow YYNOT on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for all the latest updates.
The Rush Backstage Club is now offering merch from Geddy Lee's My Effin' Life book tour. The collection includes a few gig lithographs, shirts, a keychain, and more. You can check it all out online here. Speaking of Geddy's My Effin' Life, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson is a big fan of the book, and posted a photo of himself with Ged's memoir to Instagram this past week with the following caption:
What a great effing book !!!!! 📕
Not only is this a fantastic memoir from one of my all-time favorite Bass influences, Mr. Geddy Lee, but also a harrowing detail of World War II and his family's archival facts & history within it. And of course, the inside scoop of one of the greatest rock bands of all time...RUSH!Geddy so accurately describes that moment, when during our most awkward formative years growing up, many of us discover that a-ha moment when our instrument of choice (the bass!) comes into our lives and changes everything we do, and how we view the world from that point onward....finding purpose and meaning to it all through our love of music.
I don't know if it's a Bass player thing or what, but Geddy you have penned one of the greatest books ever written! Thank you for sharing your life's story, and your life's work with us!
Late last year, Geddy Lee auctioned off a large portion of his baseball collection via a Christie's and Hunt Auction. John over at Cygnus-X1.net got his hands on the official catalog from the live auction, and made scans of the entire thing which you can view online here.
The latest Classic Rock magazine (March 2024 - #325) includes a feature on the Greatest Albums of 1984, all of which turn 40 years old this year (thanks RushFanForever). One of the featured album's is Rush's Grace Under Pressure. From the article:
... "It seemed like this album took years to finish," Lifeson said at the time. "We started in the beginning of November and finished on the twelfth of March, 1984. It took two months to lay down the basic tracks; it's a mystery to me why it took so long. We were so prepared and had twice as long as usual to write, rehearse, arrange and refine the material." The arduous process partly inspired the album's title: Grace Under Pressure. "Not only was it relevant to many of the songs, it was also rather fitting to the way this album was going," said Peart. The finished album dialled back Signals' synthesised sheen a little, making more space for Lifeson's guitar. Songs such as Red Sector A and Distant Early Warning became staples of the band's set throughout the 80s, but Grace Under Pressure ultimately wasn't the album Rush wanted it to be. "It was a pretty low time," Lee said later. "We weren't sure of the kind of band we wanted to be. There was a lot of experimenting. We ended up pretty much producing that record on our own, and it was hard."
On the latest episode of Rush Roundtable (#217) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel continues their Test For Echo album discussion with the track Dog Years.
That's it for this week. Have a great President's Day weekend everybody!
