Posts Tagged ‘Alex Lifeson’

An Anthology of RUSH-inspired Fiction

Now that co-editor and fellow author Kevin J. Anderson has spilled the beans on his blog, I am free to announce my own participation in an upcoming short-fiction anthology he’s helping to curate.

starman_cover_2112

2113: Songs Inspired by the Music of Rush started as the brainchild of co-editor and contributing author John McFetridge, who pitched the idea to Canadian publisher ECW Press. Kevin came aboard shortly thereafter, and with John he pitched the idea to Neil Peart and the other members of Rush to secure their blessings for the project, which they graciously granted.

Neil isn’t directly involved with the project, but wait until you see the lineup of authors who are.

Kevin J. Anderson will be contributing an original novella, “2113,” a sequel to the band’s perennially popular fourth album, 2112. Filling out the rest of the tome’s roster are such award-winning, best-selling, and acclaimed writers as David Farland, Mercedes Lackey, Greg van Eekhout, Dayton Ward, Steven Savile, Brian Hodge, Michael Z. Williamson, Brad R. Torgersen, David Niall Wilson, Ron Collins, Mark Leslie, Larry Dixon, and Tim Lasiuta. In addition, the anthology will feature reprintings of Richard Foster‘s story “A Nice Morning Drive,” which inspired the Rush song “Red Barchetta” on Moving Pictures, and the Fritz Leiber tale “Roll the Bones,” which inspired Rush’s song and album of the same title.

To say that I am excited to be part of this project, and to have my work alongside that of such an accomplished lineup of fellow authors and Rush fans, would be a massive understatement. I’ve just turned in my short story, “Mulligan,” to Kevin, and I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

No specific publication date has been set yet, but Kevin says we should expect to see it about a year from now.

 

 

 

The Fountain of Clockwork Angels

Those who know me are aware that I’m a huge fan of the Canadian progressive-rock power trio Rush. I have been a fan of the band for over 30 years, I’ve attended shows during each of their concert tours since 1982, and I own their complete studio and live-recording catalog.

If you’re familiar with the band’s oeuvre and history, you’ll understand that it’s no small thing when I say that I even love their much-maligned third album, Caress of Steel (1975), and its B-side concept track, “The Fountain of Lamneth.” Not as much as some of their other albums, but I still consider it vintage Rush.

Like many other of the Holy Triumvirate’s faithful legions, I bought their latest studio release, a 65-minute concept album titled Clockwork Angels (2012). And I love it. It’s powerful, personal, and truly epic.

Clockwork Angels also felt incredibly familiar to me, and as soon as I’d finished my first full listen of the album on June 12, I knew why: it’s the same basic story as “The Fountain of Lamneth.”

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The Best Day Ever

I’ve been holding this news for a couple of weeks now, for a few reasons. First, I wanted to surprise fellow Rush fan Dayton Ward with this news when I saw him last weekend at Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, Md. Second, I wanted to be sure it was okay to post these images before I made them semi-public.

Now let me tell you about the best day ever.

On Sunday, July 8, 2007, I met up with my friends Randy Giudice and Alex Terapane, and Randy’s brother Chris. We had a cool afternoon eating cheese steaks and cheese-fries, then we went to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J. There we took part in the pre-show “Meet & Greet” with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush:

From left: David Mack (me), Alex Lifeson, Randy Giudice, Geddy Lee, Chris Giudice, and Alex Terapane.

I was able to give Alex and Geddy copies of my novel Wolverine: Road of Bones, which includes characters named in their honor. And although Rush percussionist extraordinaire Neil Peart does not attend Meet & Greet sessions or meet strangers, they had one of their “Praetorians” bring to Neil my Star Trek novels A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal, which feature the character Jim Peart, named in his honor.

After the Meet & Greet, we went to our seats: second row, dead center. Absolutely perfect seats. The set list was awesome, a great mix of classic tunes they haven’t played in years and a lot of songs off of the new (and mind-blowingly great) album “Snakes & Arrows”.

During the encore, the band tosses special “you can’t just buy these” T-shirts from the stage. A few years ago, on the Vapor Trails tour, I caught one that Alex had pitched into my hand like a fastball. On this occasion, he all but lobbed a shirt right to me in the second row. Frickin’ amazing! (I came home with a beaming grin and said to my wife, “I caught a shirt!”)

Wait, it gets better.

After the show, we got to hang around for a backstage visit. While we waited for the band to be ready to see us, we watched the roadies break down the stage gear while Praetorians brought us tasty, ice-cold beers. Then we were led backstage to our hang-out with Geddy and Alex. (Neil, being Neil, was already a dozen miles away on his motorcycle, a ghost rider in the night.)

We spent an hour hanging out with Alex and Geddy. I chatted with Geddy about wine, his travels in Europe, and restaurants. Talked with Alex about comic books, his work, that night’s set.

Basically, this was an experience I have imagined and dreamed of since my first time at a Rush concert, on the Signals tour in 1982. After 25 years it came true…and it didn’t cost me a thing, because the whole evening was a gift from Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns). He bought the tickets, arranged the backstage passes, everything, for his friend Randy, and I got to tag along. Bryan is a god among men, and I can only hope that one day I have the means and the opportunity to repay this once-in-a-lifetime beau geste in kind.

Now if only there was a way that I could meet Neil… Well, it’s good to have something left to shoot for. 🙂

(Post edited to steal the starman icon from Dayton.)