UPDATE - 7/10@5:25PM: Sorry, hadn't linked the Steven Wilson interview below. Here it is.
The big news of the past week was this morning's press release announcing the details of Neil Peart's involvement with Vertical Horizon's upcoming album Burning the Days. It's due to release on August 25th and Neil Peart plays drums on the tracks Save Me From Myself, Even Now and Welcome to the Bottom. Save Me From Myself is the first single from the album and can be heard on the band's MySpace page.
Other than the Neil Peart news, the biggest Rush item of the last week probably was the introduction of a new model of the Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Signature Bass; this one featuring a sunburst finish and black pick guard. Geddy is shown with his sunburst model on several of the promo pictures for his My Favorite Headache solo album as seen here. On that note, we also learned about a cool Rush-themed t-shirt available for purchase through Geddy's Pub in Bar Harbor, Maine which depicts the Pub's moose mascot playing an original black and white Geddy Lee Fender Signature Bass. To read the story behind the shirt and see all the details, check out this post. Someone else (not a moose) who likes to play a Geddy Lee Bass is The Killers bassist Mark Stoermer as shown in the June 2009 issue of the UK's Bass Guitar Magazine (thanks RushFanForever).
It's been confirmed that Guitar Hero 5 will feature Rush's live version of The Spirit of Radio from the Snakes & Arrows Live CD. It's due to be released on September 1, 2009 and can be pre-ordered via Amazon at this link.
Earlier this week we finally got to see the Pepsi Rock Band commercial that features Rush's Limelight and also had a Moving Pictures sighting on Mike and Mike in the Morning.
I'd meant to post a new poll last week in celebration of the 5th anniversary of Rush's Feedback, but it slipped my mind. So I'll just do it this week instead. So what's your favorite song off of Feedback? Take the Poll and let us know. Here are the results of the last poll where I asked everyone how many RushCons they've attended.
In celebration of Canada Day last week, The Insider posted their list of America's 50 Favorite Canadians! where Rush came in at number 20. Pamela Anderson took the top spot right behind William Shatner at number 2. Thanks to Cygnus-X1.net for the heads up.
RushFanForever located this gallery from photographer Rik Walton which depicts some older concert photos of Alex and Geddy.
Reader mogulman dug up an old interview that Bill Banasiewicz did with Alex Lifeson back in 1984 and converted a portion of it to an mp3 for us. Banasiewicz is the author of the 1988 Rush biography Visions. What's cool about this particular snippet of the interview is that it takes place in a plane which Alex Lifeson is piloting. You can listen to it using the player below or download it at this link.
Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson displays his impressive knowledge of progressive rock in this video interview by RoadRunner Records Germany from last year. There's a Rush question at the 2:40 mark. Thanks to GedHed for the heads up.
The Paradiddler drumming blog posted this detailed review of last month's live chat with Neil Peart, Doane Perry (Jethro Tull) and Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa) on the Drum Channel. It's a nicely done review which includes several screenshots. You can check it out here.
And here's one from the archives courtesy RushFanForever. Back in the 80s Guitar Player magazine would sometimes offer a Flexi disc insert that featured a piece of music from an artist featured in the magazine. While writing his Back To Basics column for the July 1987 issue of Guitar Player, Rik Emmett (Triumph) wrote a 6-minute piece of music titled Beyond Borders that fused wildly different guitar styles together. He then gathered up a few fellow Canadian artists including Alex Lifeson to record the track which was then featured in the magazine as a flexi disc soundpage. Someone recently uploaded a decent version of the song to YouTube which you can check out at this link.
Reader Jeremy K is currently deployed overseas in Iraq and has a band called The Grove. He and his bandmates caught a cool little lizard during a practice session and snapped a few pix of it on a Neil Peart Snakes & Arrows drumstick. You can check out the pic by clicking on the thumbnail.
Reader Yvan Arshoun created this really neat photograph as a tribute to the Power Windows album. You can check it out here or by clicking on the thumbnail.
It's the middle of summer and baseball season is in full swing. What better way for a Rush fan to keep the sun out of their eyes than by wearing an officially licensed Rush baseball hat? These one-size fits-most hats are black with print on both the front and back; the front reads Rush inside the starman logo and the back says Rush in smaller print. You can purchase the Rush hat along with a bunch of other cool Rush swag at RushSwag.com.
I'll leave you this week with this impressive video of 13-year-old Alex Lifeson fan Eli Smith playing La Villa Strangiato at the Forest Park Talent Show in Franklin, Wisconsin on May 1, 2009 (thanks kevin).
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
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