Main

August 6, 2008

Neil updates NeilPeart.net for the end of the tour

Well, the tour's over and Neil's updated his site for August.

On the hazards of playing at a casion in Atlantic City:

The arena in Atlantic City was inside a garish casino, where the management held back (denied us and our fans) the front section of seats. Those were “comped” to the “high rollers” (by definition, big losers), and thus we looked out from the stage at the first few rows (the ones we could see most) filled with people who had no idea why they were there except that it was free.

In contrast to our real fans farther back, who would mortgage their Hemispheres picture discs, and perhaps internal organs, to get closer to the stage, we were confronted by mild curiosity at best, and at worst, rude indifference. As the show went on, we started to see empty seats where bored big losers had slipped away, a woman looking down and texting through whole songs, and a pair of slack-jawed, sulking teens (the Beavis and Butthead of the Guitar Hero generation—as Cartman from “South Park” says in the hilarious sample that Geddy uses in “The Trees,” “Real guitars are for old people”) actually yawning. Anyone would agree that yawning is not appropriate behavior at a rock concert. (Vomiting, yes, but not yawning.)

There's more about riding on the East coast and New England, riding without a helmet, looking forward to some time off, and some photos as well.

May 17, 2008

Neil updates NeilPeart.net for May

Big update on Neilpeart.net on Neil's motorcycle travels in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the Southwest, along with assorted bits of news and lots of photos, as usual.

May 16, 2008

Neil Peart's Modern Drummer Ask a Pro columns

Andrew Olson's posted a bunch of Neil Peart's Modern Drummer Ask a Pro columns from 1982 to 1993. Worth reading, there's some good stuff there.

March 12, 2008

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert

According to the Buddy Rich Drum Company's MySpace page, Neil's confirmed to play at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in October 2008.

March 11, 2008

Neil updates NeilPeart.net

Neil's posted a summary of what he's been up to in the last couple of months (time in Quebec, preparing for the next leg of the tour, reviewing live album stuff) and shares some photos and mentions taking up the marimba again.

February 20, 2008

Neil's Book Club Updated

Neil Peart has updated his "book club" page—Bubba's Book Club: Issue 9 - February, 2008. Five books are reviewed in this issue:

This Is Your Life — John O’Farrell
The Emperor’s Children — Claire Messud
Unfinished Journey (Twenty Years Later) — Yehudi Menuhin
This Is Your Brain on Music — Daniel J. Levitin
Metal Swarm (The Saga of Seven Suns - Book 6) — Kevin J. Anderson

February 5, 2008

New Drum Article from Neil

Over at Drum Workshop's site, there's an article (first in a series) about Neil's new drums. This one focuses on his new 23" bass drum.

"Everybody knows there is no such thing as a 23-inch bass drum."

January 2, 2008

Neil Peart Articles

Neil's added three article reprints to his site:

Motorcyclist Magazine May 2007
Modern Drummer Magazine August 2007
Drumhead Magazine September-October 2007

December 7, 2007

New Neil Peart News

Almost forgot to post this...Neil's updated his news page with new info about the European leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour and added some photos as well.

November 8, 2007

New Neil Peart News

Neil's posted an update on his site of what he's been up to in the last several months. Updates on where he's ridden, several photos, his take on being named the one of the "Worst Rock Lyricists" by Blender magazine, and aches and pains.

August 27, 2007

Neil Peart Article

Nice article on Neil Peart at the Detroit Free Press that's a bit over an overview on the man and his playing.

August 22, 2007

New Neilpeart.net update

Big update at News, Weather, and Sports: Every Road Has Its Toll.

March 21, 2007

Big Neil Peart Update

Neil's posted a huge update at his site: The Count of Words

Some tidbits:
The essay for Sankes and Arrows is too big for the booklet, so it'll end up online--3300 words or so.

He's working on a Modern Drummer article and another article will be published in an upcoming issue of Motorcyclist.

Oh, and he's having a new drum set made: "As for the finish and hardware, that’s going to be a surprise. I’ll only say, “Black is the new gold,” and “Red is the new black.”"

Worth a read, as usual.

January 29, 2007

Transcription of Interview with Neil from Rhythm Magazine

Rush is a Band Blog has a transcription of the recent Neil Peart Rhythm Magazine interview. Not much new here, other than a little insight on the recording process.


January 18, 2007

New Neil Book Club

There's a new Neil's Pick for Quality Reading on his site as of the other day. Seven books reviewed. I've always wanted to pick up a copy of John McPhee's Uncommon Carriers.

December 15, 2006

New Album Update

Man, it has been a long time without any new Rush album news.

Big update over on Neil's site. They've been in the Catskills doing some serious recording recently, sounds like eleven new tracks. Interesting new quote from Neil:


I have never enjoyed the recording process so much, nor been so satisfied with the results.

Check the whole thing out, there's some nice photos included.

November 13, 2006

All About the Hats

In an interview at chartattack.com, Neil chats about Roadshow: Landscape with Drums, working on the lyrics for the upcoming Rush album, and hats:

"It's a little like juggling hats," he says. "When I'm writing lyrics I always wear a cowboy hat, because I figure that you can never take yourself too seriously with a cowboy hat on.
"And then when I go in and work on drum parts, I'll put on my little African hat. Then, when I am writing prose, I'll wear either my BMW motorcycle hat or a Toronto Maple Leafs hat."

There's also a brief appearance by Neil on the Rick Mercer Report on CBC. You can check out the clip here on the CBC site.

September 20, 2006

Neil Peart Sirius Interview

According to the great Rush is a Band Blog, Neil Peart's recent interview on Sirius is available in several places online for download. Not a bad interview, didn't expect Mark Goodman of MTV fame to interview Neil.

September 11, 2006

New Album News at Billboard

There are excerpts from a brief interview with Neil at Billboard.com today. Eight songs have been written. Tracks have been described as "remarkably organic". They'll be back in the studio next month and will begin recording in November.

One excerpt:


"You try to put your own way of seeing the world into some kind of congruence with other peoples, and that's difficult for me," he admits. "I mean, I see the world in what I think to be a perfectly obvious and rational way, but when you go out into it and see the way other people think and behave, and express themselves on church signs, you realize, 'Well, I'm not really part of this club.'"

August 15, 2006

Neil Peart Drum News

LIke Neil's drum kit? Want to buy your own version? Only $30,000! Hey, it does come with a complete set of Paragon cymbals. Follow the link for more info.

If you're more economically minded (or cheap), you could always score a set or two of R30 sticks in October.

August 11, 2006

Neil Peart 1980 Modern Drummer Interview

Andrew Olson's posted a transcription and a handful of page scans of Neil's 1980 Modern Drummer interview. Lots of good stuff there. Neil comes off as a bit intense.

June 28, 2006

Rush News at Neilpeart.net

Neil's posted a huge update on his site.

Long story short, eight songs have been sketched out, he's playing on several tracks on the next Vertical Horizon album, he's got yet another new drum kit for recording (several nice photos too), and Rush is getting back together in September.

Read the whole update for yourself.

June 22, 2006

Excerpts from Roadshow

There's a large bunch of excerpts from Neil Peart's upcoming book, Roadshow: Landscape with Drums, A Concert Tour by Motorcycle, over on his official site.

PS: You can preorder Roadshow from Amazon via this link and it'll support Red Blogchetta with a tiny Amazon commission. Thanks!

June 1, 2006

Paragon Cymbals

Been spending your hard-earned dollars on creating your own copy of Neil's current kit? Why not pick up a whole set of Sabian Paragon cymbals, the ones that Neil help develop? A whole set can be yours for just $2112!

Set contains the following:


  • 2 - 16" crashes

  • 18" and 20" crashes

  • One 8" and 2 - 10" splashes

  • 22" ride

  • 19" and 20" Chinas

  • 13" and 14" hi-hats

  • ATA-style flight case

  • Anatomy of a Drum Solo DVD

  • Rush R-30 world tour concert DVD (signed by Neil Peart)

  • Letter of authenticity