Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Neil Peart Ask a Pro columns

2008-04-25T19:27:00.001-07:00

I've added a new section to my website about Neil Peart's Modern Drummer Ask a Pro columns.

Go to the Ask a Pro section of my site to see these columns.

Rush begins 2008 Snakes & Arrows Live tour

2008-04-12T16:49:00.001-07:00

On Friday, April 11, Rush began its 2008 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour in Puerto Rico.

As with the 2007 part of the tour, I'll be following all the action on my Snakes & Arrows page. If you want to see the Snakes & Arrows tour blogosphere on one handy page, including concert review, blog reviews and stories, interviews, articles, and CD reviews, see my category page. I'll continue to add to this page as the 2008 tour gets ramped up.

SPOILER! Rushisaband had up-to-the minute coverage of the first show, including the new setlist. It's amazing to live in a wired world.

The Snakes & Arrows Live 2 CD set will be released on tax day (U.S.), Tuesday, April 15. If you'd like a preview of the CD packaging, CygnusX-1.net has a scan available here.

Here's a photo of Neil Peart on opening night (from Rush.com).

If you want to see the Rush press conference in Puerto Rico on April 9, here's the embedded video:

Neil Peart wins two 2008 Modern Drummer awards

2008-04-03T16:42:00.001-07:00

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).

Neil Peart drum kit sample collection (and more)

2008-04-03T01:51:00.001-07:00

According to the KVR audio forum, a company called Sonic Reality recently completed a Neil Peart drum sampling session, engineered by Nick Raskulinecz. It appears the session started on March 18 in Los Angeles, and the final product is scheduled to be released by the end of 2008.

The end result of this project will be a "Neil Peart Studio Profile," most likely a complete sample of Neil's Snakes & Arrows DW kit and his V-drum sounds -- and possibly Neil Peart loops. Sonic Reality has produced other Studio Profiles on such drummers as Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos and Yes/Earthworks/King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford.

If you're curious about what this all means, you can basically buy professionally-recorded sampled sounds of drummers that you can use with music software on a computer -- or plug these samples into keyboards or electronic drums. Studio Profiles cost around $79.00.

In addition to this exciting news for drummers and other musicians out there, there are a few tidbits in the forum write-up by Squid (in several posts, which I edited a little). One thing that he writes about is the DW Snakes & Arrows kit will be available to buy in the near future.

March 18

Squids and Co in LA right now. We're doing a session with Neil Peart today! It's more than just me sampling but yes we are sampling his drum kit too! I will reveal more about the project when I am able to.

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

March 19
So... I am at The Foo Fighters' studio right now. We just listened back to the tracks with Neil. HOLY S#$#*(%*#T!!!!!!!! There is this SEISMIC floor tom in his set that is the most massive boom! Wow. Explosive! Can you imagine playing Neil's kit? I can't WAIT until this is mapped. But, that is just one part of this session we did. There's more to it than that... very cool. Nick Raskulinecz who I think did a phenomenal job producing the last Rush album is co-producing this particular project with me (his studio is the Foo one... he mixed a bunch of Foo records) and it's really amazing that Neil and everyone are up for it! Very exciting.
--------------------------
March 21
... Anyway, I was talking to Neil about playing his own kit from V-Drums after and he wasn't as interested in that (as say Omar Hakim was). So I think Neil is more just open to the idea of everyone else getting a chance to play around with his drum kit sound (and the rest of the project)... which is surprising and very cool. He's never done anything like this before.
--------------------------
March 23
I was tempted to ask Neil about Rush lyrics. It's incredible that he's such an amazing drummer and writes those complex lyrics as well. I've always been curious what some of them mean or why he chose certain words that you don't commonly hear. But I wasn't sure if he'd want to talk about it or not so I didn't go there. I asked Nick if he ever talked at length to him about it and he hadn't either (with some significant hang time having produced the last Rush album). Neil is very comfortable with Nick so it was a good thing he was there. Plus Nick is a fantastic engineer. It was a very interesting mic set up. Two RCA ribbons for one room set and two U67s plus a Telefunken 251 mono room. 3 C12's for overheads to capture Neil's enormous kit.
--------------------------
March 25
Anyway, here's a cool pic of Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, me and Nick Raskulinecz. Nick was amazing in the session. He's one of the hottest producers around right now. He produced the last Rush album and three Foo Fighters albums and a bunch of other stuff. Cool guy and fun to work with too! Terry Bozzio is another really cool person who came by when we were recording Neil Peart. We have sampling session coming up with Terry recreating the sound he got with Missing Persons and producer/engineer/manager Ken Scott! Me, I'm just weaseling my way into a pic with these legends.

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

March 30

... Apparently this "Neil Peart Kit" spec is or will be available to buy from DW! You wanna hear something totally cool? Neil liked Nick Raskulinecz' work so much on the last Rush album that for Nick's birthday a truck showed up at Nick's door with that DW kit as a present. Nice present huh? Shows you the kind of guy Neil is... and the kind of people the whole band and label are. Very grateful and generous.

When we were done, Neil signed a drum head for me wishing us success with the project. ... So... okay, yeah we're doing a Neil Peart Studio ProFile. But there's more to the session than that... quite exciting stuff! More news later.

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert Poster

2008-03-26T00:26:00.001-07:00

Cathy Rich, who is producing the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert on October 18, 2008, featuring Neil Peart, posted a promo poster on her MySpace page. Also note that Terry Bozzio has been added to the guest list.

Rush play YYZ at the Foo Fighters Toronto show

2008-03-25T13:19:00.001-07:00

For all those drummers who have thought about what it would be like to fill Neil Peart's shoes--even for one song--Taylor Hawkins, drummer for the Foo Fighters, got to live that dream.

Alex and Geddy played YYZ with Taylor at the Foo Fighters' concert in Toronto on Saturday, March 22. I must say that Taylor impressed me with his ability to play Neil's parts.

Update - 3/26 - Foo Fighters website Toronto photos

Globe and Mail article

Jam Showbiz Music article

Like everything these days, you can watch this performance on YouTube:

Front Row (includes part of Taylor's drum solo, which is also cool)

Bird's Eye view

NEP news update: The Best February Ever - March 2008

2008-03-11T12:49:00.001-07:00

Neil has posted a new update on his website, writing about his love for winter in Quebec and posting many pictures from his cross-country skiing and snowshoeing expeditions. This almost seems like a companion piece to his February 2006 essay My Laurentian Soulscape, which appeared in Canadian Geographic.

Updated Neil Peart artist page on Sabian.com

2008-03-11T00:53:00.001-07:00

The artist page for Neil Peart on Sabian.com has been updated to include:

Photos from the first leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour
A new artist set-up diagram, which includes drums and cymbals with interactive features and links
A set builder page where you can open Neil's setup
New wallpaper of Neil Peart, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Jose Pasillas (Incubus):

A new page for the Paragon Diamondback Chinese 20" cymbal

New drum kit replicas - 3/11/08

2008-03-11T00:11:00.001-07:00

I've posted two new kits to the Replicas page. One is a wraparound Pearl kit from Gordie Howe, and the other is a beautiful model of Neil's Tama Artstar prototype kit from Domenic Nardone.

Thanks to both Gordie and Domenic for sending in pictures of their kits.

NEP updates - 3/8/08

2008-03-08T12:49:00.001-08:00

Workin' Them Angels single now available

The Workin' Them Angels single, from the forthcoming Snakes & Arrows Live CD, is now available at many online music stores, including:

Zune

iTunes

Neil Peart to perform at Buddy Rich Memorial concert in NYC - 10/18/08

On the Buddy Rich Drum Company MySpace page, there's an announcement that Neil Peart will perform at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert on October 18, 2008. Here's the announcement:

2008 Buddy Rich Memorial Concert Hammerstein Ballroom NYC October 18, 2008. Starring Neil Peart John Blackwell Nick Rich with The Buddy Rich Band. More artists to be announced. Check our Ads in DRUM! and Traps magazines starting in early April. The Biggest concert event of the year.

Neil Peart's original Tama kit

I saw a post on Rush is a Band about Neil's 1980's Tama kit and where it is today. Adam Roderick won the kit as part of a Modern Drummer essay contest and is still using the kit today in his Rush tribute band Trilogy. Adam has a really cool page that shows pictures of the kit being delivered by Neil's then drum tech Larry Allen, as well as pictures of Adam meeting Neil backstage. He also got to sit behind the Power Windows kit during soundcheck!

New drum kit replicas

2008-02-26T23:12:00.001-08:00

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

NEP recommended reading: Issue 9

2008-02-16T15:42:00.001-08:00

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.)

Site updates and news - 2/12/08

2008-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Snakes & Arrows Live CD coming 4/8/08

2008-02-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

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

Amazon.com: Snakes & Arrows Live: Music: Rush

"Adventures of Power" film contains NEP cameo

2008-02-05T19:36:00.001-08:00

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"

New NEP article: The Heart and Soul of a Drumset

2008-02-05T19:15:00.001-08:00

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.

Site updates - 1/26/08

2008-01-26T15:03:00.001-08:00

Here are a few updates from the site.

I've created a new section about Neil's prose writing called Catalog of Neil Peart's Writing. My goal with this page is to list everything that Neil has written for magazines, newspapers, websites, and other media -- even if I don't have a link to the article or story. If the article exists online, I've included a link to it. In addition, you can download an Excel file of the list if you want to sort the columns yourself. Thanks to Cygnus-x1.net, Power Windows, and NeilPeart.net for making most of these articles and stories available online.
One new postcard posted to the Postcards from Neil section. Thanks Jeff T!
I updated the Snakes & Arrows section with Snakes & Arrows 2008 tour dates. I've also created a tag on my del.icio.us site for 2008 tour information.
Rushisaband recently posted some very rare photos of Neil's Fort Wayne, Indiana, drum clinic. I've also posted them to the 1990-1980 gallery section of my website.
Thanks RIAB webmaster Ed and RIAB reader karissas1fan for the photos.

Rush Tour 2008 - Dates, cities and venues confirmed

2008-01-18T18:27:00.001-08:00

Rush.com announced the 2008 Snakes & Arrows tour dates today, and also announced that a live Snakes & Arrows CD will be released sometime in April. Here are all the details:

Press Release:

TORONTO, ON - January 18, 2008:
After a hugely successful 2007 tour, the fans have spoken and they want more. Rush officially announce dates for their extended 2008 Snakes & Arrows World Tour. The tour will kick off with their first ever appearance in San Juan, Puerto Rico April 11 and hit over 45 cities throughout the United States and Canada. For Rush fans this will be the first time in over a decade the band will make stops in Orlando, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Reno, Moline, Boise, Austin, Jacksonville and Winnipeg to name a few. Also for the first time in years the band will play Albuquerque, Edmonton, Vancouver, Hershey and Manchester.

The 2008 tour dates and venues are listed below. Tickets for New Orleans, Reno, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver and Detroit go on sale SATURDAY JANUARY 26.

American Express Cardmembers will also have the opportunity to purchase advance tickets January 26th through February 1st for Rush performances in Boston; Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Holmdel, Wantagh and January 27th through February 2nd in Los Angeles and Irvine. In addition there will be a MUSICTODAY fan club presale for all Rush performances in conjunction with RUSH.COM starting January 22 through January 24.

A SNAKES AND ARROWS LIVE CD will be released sometime in April. Details are forthcoming. In addition, the track "Malignant Narcissism" from the band's 2007 release "SNAKES & ARROWS" (Anthem/Atlantic) has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Fans will experience the technical virtuosity and hard-rocking compositions they have come to expect from Rush members, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. In addition the band will update their set list for the 2008 tour.
The Rush tour in North America is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and SRO/Anthem.

For complete tour & ticket information, fan club presales and more, visit: www.rush.com & www.livenation.com

Tour dates:

APRIL 2008

11th    San Juan, PR              Coliseo de Puerto Rico
13th    Ft Lauderdale, FL        Bank Atlantic Center
15th    Orlando, FL                 Amway Center
17th    Jacksonville, FL           Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
19th    New Orleans, LA          New Orleans Arena
20th    Houston, TX                Woodlands Pavilion
23rd    Austin, TX                   Frank Erwin Center
25th    Dallas, TX                   The Music Center at Fair Park
26th    Oklahoma City, OK     Ford Center
29th    Albuquerque, NM        Journal Pavilion

MAY 2008

1st      Phoenix, AZ                  Cricket Pavilion
3rd     Reno, NV                      Reno Events Center
4th     Concord, CA                 Sleep Train Pavilion
6th     Los Angeles, CA           Nokia Theatre
10th   Las Vegas, NV              Mandalay Bay Events Center
11th    Irvine, CA                    Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
20th    Moline, IL                   iWireless Center
22nd   St Paul, MN                Xcel Energy Center
24th   Winnipeg, MB              MTS Center
25th    Regina, SK                 Brandt Center
27th    Edmonton AB             Rexall Place
29th    Vancouver, BC            GM Place
31st     Seattle, WA                The Gorge Amphitheatre

JUNE 2008

1st        Portland, OR              Clark County Amphitheatre
3rd        Boise, ID                    Idaho Center
5th        Denver, CO                Red Rocks
7th        Kansas City, MO        Starlight Theatre
9th        Chicago, IL                United Center
10th      Detroit, MI                 Joe Louis Arena
12th      Montreal, QC             Bell Center
14th      Philadelphia, PA       Wachovia Center
15rd      Boston, MA                Tweeter Center
25th      Indianapolis, IN         Verizon Amphitheater
27th      Milwaukee, WI           Summerfest
28th      St Louis, MO             Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
30th      Cincinnati, OH           Riverbend Music Center

JULY 2008

2nd     Pittsburgh, PA             Post Gazette Amphitheatre
4th      Atlantic City, NJ          Marc Etess Arena
5th      Saratoga, NY              SPAC
7th      Uncasville, CT            Mohegan Sun
9th      Toronto, ON               The Molson Amphitheatre
11th    Manchester, MA         Verizon Arena
12th    Holmdel, NJ               PNC Bank Arts Center
14th    Wantagh, NY              Jones Beach
17th    Hershey, PA               Hershey Stadium
19th    Washington, DC         Nissan Pavilion
20th    Charlotte, NC             Amphitheatre
22nd   Atlanta, GA                Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park

Site updates - 1/10/08

2008-01-10T19:55:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone! Looks like we should have some new Rush tour news soon, according to Rushisaband.

Here are a few updates from the site from the past few weeks:

I updated the right menu on the Neil Peart home page. With this menu, you can now go directly to Neil Peart articles, news, and quality reading issues directly from the menu. Also, you can hover over most of the menu items for more information -- for example if you hover over March 2007 NEP News, "The Count of Words" pops up.)
One new postcard posted to the Postcards from Neil section.
One new drum kit posted to the Replicas page. Alessandro Bianchini has refinished his Slingerland kit to match Neil's drums from A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres albums and tours. Very cool!
A Snakes & Arrows bass drum head replica from Alan Walker.
New photos posted to the Snakes & Arrows gallery from MonicaZ, Roman Dino, and Ross Halfin.

Magazine articles added to NeilPeart.net

2007-12-26T01:37:00.001-08:00

Three magazine articles from 2007 have been added to NeilPeart.net.

Modern Drummer Magazine - August 2007

Motorcyclist Magazine - May 2007

DRUMHEAD Magazine - September/October 2007

Site updates and NEP news (12/15/07)

2007-12-15T01:48:00.001-08:00

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."

Rush extend tour into 2008

2007-12-13T15:48:00.001-08:00

It's official. Rush is touring in 2008. Here are the details from Rush.com:

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

RUSH EXTEND WORLD TOUR INTO 2008

TORONTO, ON -- December 12, 2007:

After a hugely successful 2007 run, Rush are pleased to announce they will extend their Snakes & Arrows World Tour into 2008. The band will begin rehearsals in March to revamp the set list before kicking off the tour with their first ever appearance in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April.

2008 will see Rush tour in over 40 cities throughout the United States and Canada making stops in many where they haven't performed in well over a decade including: Orlando, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Austin, Jacksonville and Winnipeg to name a few. Along the way, Rush will play new venues in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Seattle and will revisit some familiar ones in Boston, Washington and Charlotte amongst others. Rush fans can look forward to a complete tour announcement in mid January. As details develop more information will be made available at www.rush.com and www.livenation.com.

Due to the overwhelming response of their fans in North America, the "Snakes & Arrows" tour has been Rush's highest grossing tour ever and the best attended in many years.

Snakes & Arrows (Anthem/Atlantic Records) was recorded in the fall of 2006 with Grammy Award-winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) with Rush co-producing. Their first album of original material in nearly five years, Snakes & Arrows debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. In addition, the track "Malignant Narcissism" has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Since releasing its self-titled debut album in 1974, Rush has been universally regarded as one of the most inventive and exciting groups in rock, famed for virtuoso musicianship, epic soundscapes, and dramatic lyricism. The band's extraordinary body of work -- which includes such acclaimed works as 1976's "2112," 1981's "MOVING PICTURES," 1996's "TEST FOR ECHO," and 2002's "VAPOR TRAILS" -- has achieved worldwide sales exceeding 35 million units.
Fans will experience the technical virtuosity and hard-rocking compositions they have come to expect from Rush members, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.

The Rush tour in North America is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and SRO/Anthem.

For complete tour & ticket information, fan club memberships and more, visit: www.rush.com

NEP News Update - December 2007

2007-12-02T19:51:00.001-08:00

Neil has posted an update to his website for December: The Hour of Arriving.

There are lots of great pictures and more stories about the European leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.

In the story Neil mentions a sign that someone held up at the Clark County (Portland/Southern Washington) show, "NP--THIS IS YOUR LIFE." I was at that show, and I remember seeing that sign and being somewhat confused. It's interesting to read Neil's take on it.

NeilPeart.net design refresh

2007-11-19T13:43:00.001-08:00

The design of NeilPeart.net has been refreshed to match his Snakes & Arrows drum kit.

Once you close the splash page (the button is right below Main Monkey Business: Drums-Only, you'll see a nice photo of Neil, his BMW GS motorcycle, and the Snakes & Arrows drum kit on stage at the Hollywood Bowl.

While there aren't any significant content changes to report, I did notice the inclusion of Landscapes by Kevin J. Anderson in the Xtras section. While Neil wrote the introduction for Landscapes, the text on the Xtras page is the generic description used on Amazon and other websites.

The website still uses Flash technology, which is really not recommended for narrowband connections (although the website has dropped its warning). Dial-up users beware.

New Andrew MacNaughtan NEP and Rush prints (2007)

2007-11-13T16:15:00.001-08:00

Today, I got an e-mail from Andrew MacNaughtan about some new Rush and Neil Peart prints he has available. I've ordered a bunch of prints from Andrew in the past, and my expectations have always been exceeded.

Copy of e-mail:

Every year around the first of October I start receiving requests from many of you asking if I'll be adding new prints for the Holiday Season and this year was no exception. So by popular demand I've added the two most requested items another Snakes and Arrows Studio Print and Rush Live At Red Rocks!
I think you're going to love the new forest shot of the boys being boys and Neil has signed two new prints that are just to die for.
The address is the same, so come by and visit us at: http://www.andrewmacnaughtan.net
And as always if you're no longer interested in getting my newsletters drop by the art store and change your contact preferences at:
http://www.andrewmacnaughtan.net/catalog/
Cheers,
Andrew MacNaughtan.
Andrew MacNaughtan Photographic Arts

New prints:

1. Neil Peart V with Snakes drum kit

Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 250
Signed by Andrew MacNaughtan
$75.00

2. Neil Peart Live (Snakes & Arrows)

Autographed by Neil Peart
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 30
$375.00

3. Neil Peart under bridge

Autographed by Neil Peart
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 50
$475.00

4. Snakes & Arrows studio recording session

Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 250
Signed by Andrew MacNaughtan
$95.00

5. Red Rocks 2007

Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 100
Signed by Andrew MacNaughtan
$75.00

6. Rush Standing in Forest

Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 100
Signed by Andrew MacNaughtan
$45.00

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Previous prints

If you're looking for a Neil Peart autographed photo for a little less than $475, see the Retrospective 2006 print. I own this one, and it looks great. (See the entire Andrew MacNaughtan Rush catalog.)

Neil Peart (Retrospective 2006)

Autographed by Neil Peart.
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 500
$95.00

Neil Peart autographed prints for over $200.00:

Neil Peart (African Drum)

Autographed by Neil Peart
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 25
$275.00

Neil Peart (Snakes & Arrows Recording Session)

Autographed by Neil Peart
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 50
$325.00

Neil Peart (Vapor Trails)

Autographed by Neil Peart
Numbered and dated from a limited edition of 25
$475.00