Alex Lifeson and Mojotone officially launched the Lerxst brand of amplifiers last year, but the brand has actually been in the works since back when Rush were touring their Clockwork Angels album a decade ago. Alex along with Mojotone CEO Michael McWhorter recently sat down with Guitar.com for an extensive interview to talk about Lerxst Amps, its history, and what the future holds:

... while Lerxst doesn't want to take over the world, it could feasibly take over your signal chain - from guitar to speaker, and everything in between. So what's next? "I think our motto going forward is this: to build something that's very useful as a creative tool, something that people will really respond to, and grow to love," says Alex. "Nothing flashy, just something really solid that really works well." "Alex hit the nail on the head," Michael adds. "We're not necessarily trying to compete with Fender, Gibson or Marshall- we're just just having fun and trying to put out cool equipment that's well made, that a lot of musicians can find a use for and be creative with."

Rush has released a new, official 2025 wall calendar celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of 1985's Power Windows. The calendar was produced by Poster Foundry and can currently be ordered via Amazon and other online retailers. The 12"x18" calendar features a dozen photos from Rush's Power Windows era as seen here:

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rush's iconic Power Windows album with this officially licensed calendar. Featuring all 1985 dates from the unforgettable Power Windows tour and other important anniversaries in Rush's legendary career, this calendar is a must-have for every fan. Don't miss out on commemorating this milestone with the ultimate Rush calendar for 2025!

Legendary British blues pioneer John Mayall passed away earlier this week at the age of 90. Mayall will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year. He is credited with helping develop the English style of rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the 1960s, with his influential band the Bluesbreakers being a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars. He was also a huge influence on Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, the latter of whom guested on Mayall's 2019 album Nobody Told Me. Geddy Lee posted the following tribute to his Instagram earlier today alongside a photo of the Crusade album cover that he mentions:

The great John Mayall passed away this week - he was a major influence on early Rush - Alex, John and myself listened to his albums over and over again. This one in particular - Crusade - which featured the incredible guitar work of Mick Taylor on songs like "Driving' Sideways" and Snowy Wood". John was a relatively unsung hero who boosted the careers of so many great players. In 2014, I had the singular pleasure of being introduced to him by his fabulous bassist Greg Rzab. I was thrilled. RIP John - and thank you ...

Rush beer partner Henderson Brewing Company announced this past week that they'll be hosting their 2nd annual Rush Day event on Sunday, August 25th at the brewery's Toronto location. Just like last year, the event will feature a unique Rush Day souvenir, special guests (Hugh Syme and Howard Ungerleider), Rush Memorabilia at their pop-up museum, Rush Beer tastings (with participants receiving a Beer Genius certificate), exclusive Rush merch, Rush karaoke, a Rush game show, Rush trivia, a screening of Beyond the Lighted Stage and more. Tickets to the event are $15 and include a Limited Edition Door Prize, with a 10% group discount available for parties of 4 or more using code BACKSTAGE PASS at checkout. The Rush beer tastings will run from 1PM-5PM but are limited to 25 people per session, so be sure to reserve a spot. As a special bonus, there will also be a Something for Nothing Rush podcast Pop-up on hand from 1PM-6PM. For all the details and to secure a spot, visit Henderson's website at this location.

Alex Lifeson's 1996 solo album Victor will be reissued on double vinyl this coming August 9th, nearly 30 years after the album's original January, 1996 release. The reissue will also be available on CD and include 4 bonus instrumental tracks. The 4 bonus tracks are instrumentals that have been available for listening on AlexLifeson.com since late 2021; Kroove, Banjo Bob and Serbs were released together as the Lerxst Demo Archives in August, 2021, and Cherry Lopez Lullaby was added later that year in October. This is the first vinyl edition of the album to be released, and the reissue features the original album, completely remixed by Alex personally, offering significantly enhanced audio quality specially prepared for this release. You can pre-order the album on Amazon at this location (or on CD here). Geddy Lee is also re-releasing the 2019 Record Store Day vinyl version of his 2000 solo album My Favorite Headache on August 9th. This version will mirror the RSD release, and will include the same 2 bonus instrumental tracks from that edition. You can pre-order it on Amazon here.

Goldmine magazine published a feature on the Top 20 albums that invented Progressive Metal from rock author Martin Popoff this past week, and four Rush albums were included in the list (thanks RushFanForever). Fly by Night came in at #15, 2112 at 13, Hemispheres in the number 10 spot, and Moving Pictures topped the Rush contingent at #9:

OK, last Rush album, because one, they veer off and two, others finally emerge to take the torch. But Moving Pictures is an immensely important influence on future prog metallers, with certification recently ticking over five times platinum. And what a first side of hardy hits, with "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "YYZ" and "Limelight" all still thriving on classic rock radio, inspiring new generations of aspiring instrumentalists.

On this past week's episode of the Something for Nothing podcast (#184), hosts Steve and Gerry welcome back Max Mobley to count down their top 5 favorite Alex Lifeson riffs. Max previously joined the show in episode 97 to talk about his book Rush FAQ, episode 122 to rank their top 5 Alex Lifeson solos, and again in episode 146 as part of their Hold Your Fire Redux series to talk about Mission. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcasts:

On the latest episode of Rush Roundtable (#237) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel is back to creating a setlist of deep cuts as they expand upon parts 1 and 2 (Episodes 69 & 70) from 2021:

Alex Lifeson was the subject of the latest episode of Premier Guitar's 100 Guitarists podcast, where each week they pick one legendary guitarist to profile. You can listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts, and also watch it on YouTube.

This coming Monday, July 29th will be Geddy Lee's 71st (!!) birthday! Happy early birthday Dirk, and have a great weekend everyone!!