Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Cathy Rich was interviewed in a story on Sabian.com about the upcoming Buddy Rich Memorial Concert. In addition to Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, John Blackwell, and Nick Rich (Buddy's Grandson), Chad Smith (of Red Hot Chili Peppers) and bassists Will Lee and Jeff Berlin have been added to the lineup.

Also, the event will be streamed globally by the Drum Channel and recorded in high-definition for a future release.

SABIAN Cymbals - Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio & Nick Rich to perform at 2008 BUDDY RICH MEMORIAL CONCERT

Labels: Buddy Rich Memorial Concert

Neil Peart has published issue 10 of Bubba's Book Club to his website. In this issue, he reviews:

• The Colony of Unrequited Dreams - Wayne Johnston
• The Custodian of Paradise - Wayne Johnston
• The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell
• Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Mark Richardson
• A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World -Tony Horwitz

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

I've added Neil Peart's audio examples that were included on a CD with the book, "Drum Lessons with the Greats." This book is currently out of print, but you can get it from some used sellers.

Drum Lessons with the Greats 2 - Neil Peart examples

Labels: drums

Well, the Snakes & Arrows tour is over. In the past few weeks I've taken some time to reflect on the tour and the shows I saw -- the same as most fans, I suspect. You can read about the four shows I saw on the 2008 tour here. You can also see most reviews and stories about the Snakes & Arrows tour on my Snakes tour page. You can also read the stories I bookmarked for the 2008 Tour.

Current and Upcoming Releases

Fortunately, there are a few current and upcoming releases for Neil Peart and Rush. A few of these include:

• Neil Peart's 30th Anniversary kit and "Ghost Rider" motorcycle in Columbus, Ohio. (If anyone has any pictures they'd like to share, please send them.)
• The Rotterdam DVD shot in 2007 and scheduled to release on November 4, 2008.
• The Roadshow Companion book scheduled to release in December 2008 (pushed back from July).
• The Burning for Buddy Memorial Concert in October in New York City, which I plan to attend.

You can track all the current and future releases on the Upcoming Releases page.

Snakes & Arrows drum setup photos

I've added a collection of photos from Rush.com the crew setting up Neil's Snakes kit. (Thanks to John Arrowsmith for taking all these photos!)

News and other random bits

• Stephen Colbert's comment to Rush about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has sparked Wired.com to ask, "Settle the Beef: Does Rush Deserve the Hall of Fame?"
• John at Cygnus-x1.net posted scans of an interesting Billboard Spotlight article about Rush from May 2004.
• Ed at Rushisaband.com posted scans of Classic Rock's Magazine's August 2008 article about Rush.
• Tandem Digital, the company responsible for the design of NeilPeart.net, also produced the animation for Swingin' Serpents -- the animation that played behind Neil at the end of his drum solo during the Snakes & Arrows tour. You can view the entire animation by going to Tandem Digital website and clicking the Swingin' Serpents video. There are some pretty amazing details in this animation.

Labels: Site updates