UPDATE - 4/1@7:02PM: APRIL FOOLS!!! As you likely all have figured out by now, today is April Fools' Day and this post is - unfortunately - a joke. I inserted some clues in the post such as misspelling Neil Peart's name, saying the story was from Rolling Stoner magazine, and including members of Spinal Tap in the list of possible guest musicians. Who knows? Maybe it will come true some day. Some other Rush sites ran some great April Fools gags today too. Andy Olson ran a story on his Neil Peart fansite about how Neil Peart was in talks to produce a Red Barchetta film, Eric at the Power Windows site ran a story claiming that Rush would be reissuing all 14 Mercury-era Rush albums on 8-track, and John at Cygnus-X1.net updated his Facebook group with a Big Time Rush theme. :)

With Rush on an extended break after wrapping up the R40 Live tour last year and Neil Peart's future with the band being in question, both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have openly spoken in recent interviews about possibly working together and writing new music outside the umbrella of Rush. Here's what Alex Lifeson had to say to Rolling Stone magazine in an interview last month:

... "[Geddy is in the] Falkland Islands or something, penguin watching," the guitarist says with a laugh. "I know he's open to sitting down and doing some writing," ... "I've been writing since the summer anyway because that's just what I like to do. I have a small studio in town and I have my own setup at my place. So I like to keep my fingers in it and keep busy, playing guitar. I know I can give Ged a push and we do love working together. We only live five minutes from each other. And I've gone over and had a coffee in the past, and we end up going downstairs into his room and start making some noise." ... "You never know," ...

It looks like they'll be collaborating sooner than later as earlier this morning the pair announced via this Rolling Stoner magazine article that they are putting together a new side project with a working title of Dirxst (a mash-up of Geddy and Alex's longtime respective nicknames Dirk and Lerxst) that they'll be launching later this year. The project will include music written by Geddy and Alex and featuring various guest vocalists, drummers and other musicians. If all goes well with the project, they are also considering a limited run of tour dates. Here's Geddy Lee talking about the project:

... We still would have to work out all of the logistics. But if all the stars align, and we can get others on board, we'd love to play these songs for a live audience. Whether that's a full fledged tour or just a limited run of dates remains to be seen. The sky's the limit really. ...

When asked how this will affect any future plans with Rush, Lifeson replied as follows:

... This does not at all mean the end of Rush. We want to make that clear. We've already spoken with Neal about the project and he's given his blessing. We wouldn't do anything like this without his OK. We still hope to record new material as Rush further down the road. But this project is meant to keep Ged and I busy until then. Just something to keep us out of trouble (laughs). ...

Possible guest musicians they've spoken to about participating in the project include Dave Grohl, Maynard James Keenan, John "Stumpy" Pepys, Mike Portnoy, Derek Smalls, and a surprising Canadian pop star as seen in this video of a Dirxst in-studio jam session:

Dirxst has even launched a website although there's not much there yet. You can check it out at Dirxst.com.