Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Here's yet another interview with Neil Peart. Some really interesting stuff in this one. For example, here's what he had to say about Subdivisions.

"It's a very unusual song construction lyrically and musically that we managed to make work," he said. "It was written at a time when we weren't working, so to speak. We were mixing a live album and we just started playing around and wrote a song for fun. Although it's very serious in it's musical structure, one of the most complicated actually that we've had in terms of arrangement drum part alone, it's a really intricate drum part to play and consequently I still love playing it almost 30 years later and that's a good testament."

CANOE -- JAM! Music - Artists - Rush: Rush-ing into Songwriters Hall

via Power Windows

Labels: awards, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, interview

The 15th Annual Drummies are now open for voting. Neil Peart has won Drummer of the Year for the past three years. To read more about the Drummies, see the following press release:

DRUMMER CAFE ~ Enter Music Publishing Rolls Out Voting For 15th Annual Drummies | News | Music Industry

To vote, go to this site:

Official voting site

Labels: awards, DRUM magazine

I just received an e-mail stating that all three members of Rush will attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction, and that there's a 20% discount on tickets available to Rush fans. The event takes place on March 28 at 8:00 p.m. at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

For more information, see the webpage version of this e-mail:

Rush Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction

Labels: awards

Update: 7/14 - Here's the official Press Release from DRUM! magazine.

---------------------

Neil Peart has won DRUM! magazine's Drummer of the Year for the third year in a row. He also won Best Progressive Rock Drummer.

The results will be published in the August 2009 edition of DRUM!

Thanks to Michael at NeilPeartDrumsticks.com via Rushisaband.com and Power Windows.

Labels: awards, DRUM magazine

The official announcement of Neil Peart winning "Drummie of the Year" for a second time is now online. You can read it here:

Neil Peart's Progressive Percussion Proves Itself Again; Nominated "Drummer Of The Year" For A Second Time In 'Drummies 2008'

Excerpt:

San Jose, Calif - He's done it again: Neil Peart has been selected "Drummer Of The Year" in DRUM! Magazine's Drummies 2008, a prestigious reader survey contest comprised of 42 categories, conducted by Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip/drum percussion magazines worldwide. More than 5000 drummers nominated Peart; the runners-up were Stanton Moore, Mike Portnoy and Jimmy Sullivan.

Congrats, Neil!

Labels: awards

As of this writing, Rush is currently on the final leg of their 2008 Snakes & Arrows tour. From what I've gathered, the tour has been successful, even though ticket sales are down.

On the Snakes & Arrows page, I've added a few links:

• Photo Gallery 2008 - Containing some great photo sets of The Gorge and Clark County, by Michael Thompson and Monica Z.
• A link to Snakes & Arrows photos from Rush.com.
• Photos added to the Latest Drum Setup page, including a photo of Neil's current warm-up kit and pictures of Neil's stage kit being set up.
• An archive of reviews, opinions, articles, and opinions on the Snakes Feeds page.
• A link to NeilPeartDrumsticks.com's Fans who received NEP drumsticks during the Snakes & Arrows tour

In my personal blog, I've added reviews of all the shows I attended:

1. Rush at Clark County Amphitheater - 6/1/08
2. Rush at the Gorge - 5/31/08
3. Rush at GM Place - Vancouver, B.C. - 5/29/08
4. Phoenix - Day 2 - Rush at Cricket (5/1/08)

Some of the more interesting stuff I'm come across in the news department:

Neil Peart has won DRUM! magazine's Drummer of the Year award for the second year in a row. The results are on newsstands in the August 2008 issue. To read last year's article, go to the digital version of DRUM! November 2007. Also, check out the article in the same issue entitled Neil Peart and Gary McCracken: A Two Prog Approach about the making of Battlescar. You can also read the article on Gary McCracken's site

Rush Never Sleeps: Rolling Stone -- If you haven't read this yet, check out the surprisingly positive article on Rush in Rolling Stone. For most Rush fans, this article appearing in RS is not unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, this is not the first article that has appeared in Rolling Stone about Rush. An article about Rush by David Fricke, a longtime RS reporter, appeared in the May 28, 1981 issue: Rush: Power From the People. Like the current article, this one tries to decipher the Rush riddle that has eluded the popular media and rock critics.

Neil Peart's favorite cookie is the Pepperidge Farms' Nantucket (regular, not double chocolate). Neil's tour bus driver, Dave, recently posted a blog entry on his MySpace page about the elusive cookie -- and how they sometimes catch fire.

Finally, my friend's Rush Auctions are back. This week, you can get some great Neil Peart posters.

Labels: awards, drum sticks, drums, pictures, Site updates

Even though it's not official yet, I've confirmed from bigdrumthump.com and Alfred.com that Neil Peart has won two 2008 Modern Drummer Reader's Poll awards. It appears bigdrumthump got this from Sonor.com, who has since taken down their posting.

The full results will appear in Modern Drummer's July 2008 issue, which hits newstands on May 30. Congrats, Neil, and all the other drummers!

The 2008 awards include:

ROCK DRUMMER
1. NEIL PEART
2. Chad Smith
3. Stewart Copeland
4. Alex Van Halen
5. Jason Bonham

RECORDED PERFORMANCE
1. NEIL PEART (Rush): Snakes & Arrows
2. Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree): Fear Of A Blank Planet
3. Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater): Systematic Chaos
4. Jack DeJohnette (Michael Brecker): Pilgrimage
5. Roy Haynes: A Life In Times

He also came in fifth in the Progressive Rock category:

PROG
1. GAVIN HARRISON
2. Virgil Donati
3. Mike Portnoy
4. Danny Carey
5. Neil Peart

For those who are counting, this gives Neil 14 awards in the "Best Recorded Performance" category and 8 awards in the "Best Rock Drummer" category. As most of us have seen, Neil doesn't take these awards for granted (read the October 2006 letter from Neil on this page).

Labels: awards, Modern Drummer

Here are a few updates from the site, as well as a few NEP news items.

Site updates

• Two new postcards posted to the Postcards from Neil section.
• Four new drum kits posted to my Replicas page. These include kits from Pierre Martin, Johnny Sillers, Adam Alquist, and an R30 commemorative kit from John Buckland. As an added treat, I've included a few YouTube videos from Pierre and Johnny, and if you're a fan of Neil Peart you need to check these guys out. I've included links to their YouTube pages and websites as well. Thanks to all the drummers for sending in their kit pictures.
• New picture of Neil's S&A drum kit from Drumhead Issue 4 now on Neil Peart's Setup page.

NEP news items

• Neil and Rush were nominated for a Grammy award for "Malignant Narcissism." This is their fifth nomination. Here's the complete list of Category 19, Best Rock Instrumental Performance:

Category 19

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal. Singles or Tracks only.)

• The Ecstasy Of Gold
  Metallica
  Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone
  [Sony Classical]
• Malignant Narcissism
  Rush
  Track from: Snakes & Arrows
  [Anthem/Atlantic]
• Always With Me, Always With You
  Joe Satriani
  Track from: Satriani Live!
  [Epic/Red Ink]
• Once Upon A Time In The West
  Bruce Springsteen
  Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone
  [Sony Classical]
• The Attitude Song
  Steve Vai
  Track from: Sound Theories Vol. I & II
  [Epic/Red Ink]

• Neil's motorcycle will join a new exhibit at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The exhibit is called "MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles."

Labels: awards, drum kit replicas, NEP motorcycling, postcards

Labels: Anatomy of a Drum Solo, awards, drums, Rush SnakesArrows