Geddy Lee finished off the North American leg of his My Effin' Life spoken word book tour back on December 7th with a very special show at Toronto's iconic Massey Hall with his BFF and band-mate Alex Lifeson, along with Strombo sharing some of the interview duties. The show was filmed for later release as part of CBC Music's Live at Massey Hall series, which premiered this past Friday with the release of 9 episodes available to stream for free on CBC Gem. Four additional performances were released today, including Geddy Lee's Massey Hall book tour stop, and the CBC has made all four of those available to watch free on YouTube, with the Geddy episode at this location (thanks RushFanForever).
Former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler has recruited an impressive lineup of all-star guitarists - including Rush's Alex Lifeson - for a new recording of his classic 1983 solo single Going Home (Theme from Local Hero) to help raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. The song will be released via BMG under the project name Mark Knopfler's Guitar Heroes next Friday, March 15th. In addition to Lerxst, the song's lineup includes David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Joan Jett, Joan Armatrading, Hank Marvin, Slash, Tom Morello, and the very last recording by the late Jeff Beck. It was produced by Knopfler's longtime collaborator Guy Fletcher. From the announcement:
... The new version of the song, an instrumental theme to the 1983 Scottish comedy-drama Local Hero, was recorded at British Grove Studios, in West London, with some artists taping their contributions in person, and others sending in sound files from their own studios. Guy Fletcher then edited the contributions into a nine-minute piece. Speaking of Jeff Beck's participation in the recording, Fletcher says, "It was absolutely meant to be. And what he did with it, it just brings you to tears." The song also features Ringo Starr on drums, Sting on bass, and Teenage Cancer Trust patron Roger Daltrey on harmonica. ...
You can listen to a 1-minute preview snippet of the track on YouTube here, and pre-order it here.
In addition to collecting baseball memorabilia, guitars and wine, Geddy Lee also collects watches, 5 of which he recently donated to a charity auction where the proceeds will be directed towards Crohn's and Colitis Canada. Each of Geddy's watches also includes a signed copy of his memoir My Effin' Life as seen here. The A Matter of Time charity watch auction kicks off today, and you can check out Geddy's contributions along with all the others here (thanks Erik K).
Power metal drummer Gene Hoglan (Death to All, Death, Dark Angel, Testament) was recently interviewed at Metal Beer Open Air in Chile, and mentioned Rush when asked about what musicians he'd like to play with:
... I know there's never going to be a Rush again, but to play with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson? I grew up on Rush, and I personally, I will take the Pepsi Challenge playing Neil Peart with any drummer on the planet. I'd love to do a jam with Rush someday, with the guys from Rush. I know I could never replace Neil Peart, you know, but if those guys were ever like, 'hey man, we've got some shows, we want to do some music again, just playing some cool stuff', I would do that in a minute." ...
A new Rush tribute project called Rush for Cover has been in the works for the past couple of years and will finally be seeing the light of day this coming April. From the press release:
... Twice As High Records and JIB Machine Records aren't trying to recreate that sound note-for-note in their joint release, "RUSH FOR COVER", landing Friday, April 26; they're trying to recreate that awesome feeling listening to these songs. "RUSH FOR COVER" features nine, new interpretations of classic RUSH songs by an international cast of independent, underground artists (none of whom are trios themselves). "RUSH FOR COVER" is a RUSH tribute album created by RUSH fans for RUSH fans. The album will be available on opaque creamsicle and opaque sky blue vinyl along with a limited digital release. Pre-sales begin Friday, March 15, via RushForCover.com. Coinciding with the pre-sales is a charity auction that includes the original painting used for the cover of the album by fan and artist Kelly Drew; a one-of-a-kind test pressing of "RUSH FOR COVER" signed by all of the artists; a stack of original RUSH vinyl (including a sealed, original pressing of "Clockwork Angels", various promo 12"s and original 45s). All proceeds from the charity auction will be donated to the Glioblastoma Foundation, The V Foundation for Cancer Research (founded by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano) and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
The official release date for the album is Friday April 26th, and you can learn more at rushforcover.com.
Rush's Working Man was played during a recent episode of NBC's Quantum Leap. In Season 2, Episode 12 (As the World Burns - aired Feb. 20, 2024), about a 10-second snippet of the song is played at around the 14:30 mark (not including commercials) just as the scene cuts to some construction workers listening to the radio. You can watch the episode on NBC/Peacock here (subscription required). Thanks to RUSHnATL for the heads up.
On the latest episode of Rush Roundtable (#220) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel continues their Test for Echo album discussion series with Resist.
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!
