UPDATE - 1/26@11:29PM: Godin Guitars did a 40-minute sit down interview with Alex where he demonstrates his new signature LERXST Limelight guitar and talks about how it came about. Alex also touches on a few other subjects such as his playing style, his Envy of None project, and more. You can watch the whole interview below or on YouTube:

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UltimateGuitar.com's Greg Prato recently sat down with Alex Lifeson for a new interview where Lerxst discusses a number of subjects, including his new line of Lerxt Amps, his signature Epiphone Les Paul, the most challenging Rush song, his favorite solos, the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows, and the possibility of making new music with Geddy Lee:

... I don't know. There's certainly a lot of interest in us doing something. I think for a lot of Rush fans, they've been hoping for ... Geddy had his book tour. I went out on a few of those dates with him. I think that's kind of sparked more interest in us working together. Ged's a very busy guy. He's written a couple of books over the years. He has a lot of stuff that he's into. This is my studio in my apartment. I've been working on the Envy of None stuff as well as a few other projects. So I've been playing and recording for all these years. When he's ready, he always says, 'Come over for a coffee and we'll go down to the studio and bash around a few notes.' Yeah, call me. And so far he's been so busy, but I think maybe in the new year - or this is the new year - maybe soon we'll find the time to sit down and see what happens," Lifeson added. "Maybe nothing happens. Maybe it's not there anymore. Maybe it's gonna be amazing. I don't know. We'll see. Honestly, it's not a priority for us. We're happy in our lives. So, it's not like we need to go back to something. And that's my fear. That if we - that would be the expectation, this is like Rush 2. But by necessity it has to be something different. And it can never be Rush. Without Neil, it can never be Rush. That's it. It's over. But you never know what can happen. So we'll see. ...

You can read some more excerpts of what Alex had to say here and watch the entire, 18-minute interview below or on YouTube.

Speaking of signature guitars and LERXST Amps, yesterday Alex Lifeson announced the launch of a new signature guitar, the LERXST Limelight, created in partnership with Canadian guitar manufacturer Godin Guitars. From the announcement:

Alex Lifeson and Lerxst announce the launch of Limelight, a new signature guitar created in partnership with Canadian manufacturers Godin Guitars. Inspired by Lifeson's iconic Hentor Sportscaster guitars from the mid-80s, Limelight thoroughly reimagines Lifeson's original concept with modern part selection and craftsmanship to create a high-quality, forward-thinking instrument designed for today's players.

"The original Hentor brought together a mix of tone and playability that empowered me to explore sounds and styles of playing that I had never attempted before," said Lifeson.

"Ultimately these things became signature parts of my style. When the idea came to reimagine this guitar it made sense to partner with innovators like Godin who I knew I could trust to utilize the advances in technology and manufacturing skill to create something that could power a new generation of players looking to push their own boundaries."

You can get all the details and learn how to obtain one of these guitars at LerxstAmps.com.

Reviews for Geddy Lee's memoir My Effin' Life continue to roll in, including this glowing review from the perspective of a non-fan:

I was recently gifted Geddy Lee's book "My Effin Life" (HarperCollins). Honestly, I'm not a big Rush guy. But to my surprise, the book is a thoughtful, insightful, and fun read, even for a moderate fan like me. ... As he closes the book, Lee leaves the reader knowing that he's always been a true believer in doing what moves you....and not many moved us like Geddy Lee.

New York based publishing house A360Media publishes magazines, supermarket tabloids, and books, and was originally affiliated with only the National Enquirer, but the media company's holdings expanded considerably in the 1990s and 2000s. Back in December of 2022, they released a special, single-issue magazine on Rush titled 55 Years of Rock's Most Powerful Trio. The issue was a compilation of articles and interviews from previously-published editions of some of A360media's many magazine holdings. They followed up that release this past December, with another Rush publication titled RUSH THE COMPLETE GUIDE: How Much Do You Know?. You can currently find it in some supermarket checkout lines, including CVS, Walgreens and Target. The magazine is also available to order via Amazon at this location, and John at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the issue and made it available here.

Dean Moore wrote an extensive piece for American Songwriter this past week on the meaning behind Rush's The Spirit of Radio.

The RushRash podcast is a relatively new weekly podcast where hosts "Chaz" Charles and Alan "Schatz" Schatzberg listen through all 167 of Rush's studio tracks in Rush's catalog, one track per episode chosen randomly. They also have various Rush fan guests come on the show to talk about their "Rush Rash" (the severity of your rash depends on your level of Rush fandom) and share fun anecdotes and stories with their listeners, and I had the honor of being their latest guest! You can listen in to the podcast below or wherever you get your podcasts:

To commemorate the 4th anniversary of the passing of Neil Peart earlier this 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. Here's the full setlist from the show:

"The Spirit of Radio"
"The Body Electric"
"Weight of the World"
"YYZ"
"The Trees"
"Bully"
"Bastille Day"
"What You're Doing"
"Chemical Burn"
"Tom Sawyer" (with Frank Bello and John Wesley)
"Limelight" (with Frank Bello, John Wesley and Joe Bergamini)
"Vital Signs" (with Joe Bergamini)
"Freewill" (with Seven Antonopoulos)
"Closer to the Heart" (with Seven Antonopoulos)
"Natural Science" (with Jason Bittner)
"Red Barchetta" (with Jason Bittner)
"Losing It" (with Jonathan Dinklage)
"2112 Part I: Overture" (with Mike Portnoy)
"2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx" (with Mike Portnoy)
"La Villa Strangiato" (with Mike Portnoy)
"By-Tor & The Snow Dog / In the Mood / 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

You can also find several fan-shot videos of the event in this article. All proceeds from the show go to benefit Cedars Sinai Hospital, and you can send along your donation here. The show was professionally filmed, so we should expect to see some higher quality videos of all the various performances over the coming days/weeks. As a teaser, YYNOT posted a 3-minute backstage video to Facebook this past week:

You can also check out some videos from last year's inaugural event on YYNOT's YouTube channel here, and also be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates. RIP "The Professor".

On the latest episode of Rush Roundtable (#214) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel continues their Test For Echo album discussion with the track The Color of Right. They'll be dropping the next episode tonight at 6PM, where they'll tackle Time And Motion:

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!