Neil Peart -- The Latest News

I've posted three new kits to the Replicas page. Thanks to Greg Steele, Dan Aube, and Patrick Keith for sending in their kits.

Labels: drum kit replicas

It's been almost a year since Neil's last recommended reading update, as he's been out on tour with RUSH. In his latest book recommendations, he reviews This is Your Life, by John O'Farrell, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, Unfinished Journey (Twenty Years Later) by Yehudi Menuhin, This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin, and Metal Swarm (The Saga of Seven Suns - Book 6) by Kevin J. Anderson.

I rather enjoyed how he began the last book review:

Consider it duly noted that Kevin Anderson is a good friend of mine, but that would not be enough to earn a glowing review from Bubba's Book Club.
      Being Bubba's friend doesn't hurt either, of course, though it can be hard for Bubba not to be envious (the first deadly sin -- I know) of a writer like Kevin, who is so prolific, so fulfilled, and so accomplished.

Finally, he adds a homework assignment to read Newfoundland author Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and The Custodian of Paradise. He writes:

A few years back I was asked to contribute to a year-end newspaper article on "my favorite book of the year." If I had been asked last year, I would have named these two.
      Enough said. Check them out. (Of the library, or better yet, buy them. Support the poor, deserving author.)

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Here are some updates and news:

Rare Neil Peart drum kit photo

Michael, of NeilPeartDrumsticks.com, recently sent me a very rare photo of Neil's drumkit from 1974. You can see the photo in the 1970s gallery. Thanks, Michael!

More pictures of Neil Peart's Fort Wayne drum clinic

Michael also forwarded to me two additional pictures from Neil's drum clinic at Fort Wayne. You can see these two pictures in the 1990s-1990s Gallery starting in the second row.

Tough Break

As most of you have probably heard by now, a Rush-related song called "Tough Break" has surfaced on the Internet. In a nutshell, Rush recorded a song with Jack Secret (an alias for Tony Geranios, a longtime Rush crew member) and Skip Gildersleeve (another Rush crew member). Here's more information about this song:

Neil Peart-Drums
Jack Secret-Voice, Bass
Alex Lifeson-Guitar
Skip Gildersleeve-Guitar
Geddy Lee-Keys, Backing Voice

In September, at Le Studio, Quebec, Peart jammed with the road crew on a song, and was joined by Lee and Lifeson. The song was recorded later by Rush and temporarily titled "Tough Break." From the Signals Tourbook:

"We were getting a little bored with inactivity. During the mixing of "Exit... Stage Left" there was really not much for us to do except say "it sounds good" or "it doesn't sound good."

"I had been working down in the little studio, cleaning and renovating an old set of Hayman drums that were kicking around, and had started working on a "Jack Secret" song with Jack and Skip from the crew. Geddy and Alex soon joined in on keyboards and rhythm guitar, and we later recorded the song ("Tough Break") up in the studio."

Rushisaband has a nice post about the history of this track, too.

I've listened to this song a bunch of times, and I think it's really interesting. It's a musical snapshot of the band between "Moving Pictures" and "Signals," and you can definitely hear the keyboard ideas of "Subdivisions" and "Countdown" starting to form.

Also, you can hear how Neil's drumming changes a song that could be very ordinary. For example, listen to the hi-hat work in the second verse, as well as the snare placement.

You can download the song here. Thanks to MonicaZ for sending this to me.

30th Anniversary kits sold out

If you were itching to spend $30K on a Neil Peart 30th Anniversary kit, the kits have now sold out. Here's the announcement on the Guitar Center web page.

If you want to see a few happy owners, you can see them on my Replicas page (listed as "Commemorative" kits).

Related News

Alex Lifeson's guitar lessons

Thanks to a new website called iVideosongs, you can learn to play "Limelight," "The Spirit of Radio," and "Tom Sawyer" from Big Al himself. The lessons cost $9.99 each, and you can download them right onto your computer.

I download "Limelight" and "The Spirit of "Radio," and thought they were both really cool (and I don't even play guitar). It's especially interesting to listen to Alex talk about why he plays what he plays. Here's a link to all of Alex's lessons.

Labels: drums, pictures, Site updates

The new Rush double CD "Snakes & Arrows Live" now has a release date of April 8, 2008. More details to come.

Labels: CD News

Update - 2/7/08 - The trailer for this movie is available on YouTube (see below).

A new independent film, Adventures of Power, written by, directed by, and starring Ari Gold, premiered at the 2008 Sundance film festival. This film contains a short Neil Peart cameo, which would make this Neil's first live-action film where he has a speaking role, and also includes many Rush references throughout.

Ed over at Rushisaband was able to screen the movie, and has written up a great review on his website.

Trailer for "Adventures of Power"

Labels: Adventures of Power film

Neil Peart has penned a new article called "The Heart and Soul of a Drumset." The first chapter "Bass Drum Heartbeat" is available on the DW website.

In addition, there's a great video of Neil talking about the DW "X shell" and hybrid kit. In the video, there's a time-lapse sequence of Lorne Wheaton setting up the Snakes kit. Pay close attention to the song playing in the background.

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up.

Labels: Drum Workshop, drums, videos, web article