Big Drum Thump

Now you can kinda’, sorta’ do so courtesy of DRUM! magazine. Peart will be the cover story for DRUM!‘s June 2009 issue, and instead of having the Professor interviewed by a regular old drumming journo, the magazine is turning over the question-asking to you, Neil Peart’s rabid fans. Just send your favorite to the following email address: neilpeart@drumlink.com. Fans whose questions are chosen will receive their names and pictures in the article. You got until March 15 to think of a good one. Check out the full details below:

[Press Release]

Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip percussion mags worldwide, will feature Neil Peart on the cover of DRUM! magazine in June. However, instead of having one of its staff writers interview Neil, the company is inviting Neil Peart fans to conduct the interviews via email. In fact, the company has set up a special email address, neilpeart@drumlink.com, so the Neil Peart population can have their say. (Readers can also go online or access a question page on DRUM!’s YouTube site.)

Those fans who want to participate simply email their questions, and if chosen by editor Andy Doerschuk, they will have their names and pictures included in the story. “We’ve done this once before and it was a great success,” said Phil Hood, publisher of Enter Music Publishing. “With Neil’s fans it will be even better. We’re very curious to see what the results will be of our email story campaign.”

After receiving all of the interview questions, which are due by March 15, Doerschuk will then weave them into an integrated interview. “Neil Peart seemed like a great pick for this kind of story,” Doerschuk said. “After all, he has won DRUM! magazine’s “drummie” of the year for two straight years. Our fan base, regardless of age, obviously respects him and that did play into our decision to try this with him.”

DRUM! magazine expects a great response from Peart fans to this opportunity. The company just hopes that its drumlink.com server will not explode due to the amount of incoming email.

Mike Portnoy’s father, Howard, passed away on Sunday, January 4. He was 68. Mike released the following statement:

“It’s with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that I share the news of the passing of my best friend, my idol and my father, Howard Portnoy.

“He passed away this morning [Sunday, January 4] at 3:38 am with his loving wife Trish and myself by his side after a six-month battle with cancer.

“He was an amazing person whose lively spirit was a tremendous inspiration to me and to most people that had the pleasure to know him.

“He will be sorely missed by so many friends and family—but none more so than his wife Trish, his daughter-in-law Marlene, his grandchildren Melody and Max and yours truly.

“The spirit carries on, ‘ol popz…”

[via Blabbermouth]

Look at wee Neil! The pic is from his 1965/66 school year at Lakeport High School in St. Catherines, Ontario.

[via Rushisaband.com]

The new concert DVD from Neil Peart and the fellows won’t be released until November 25, but a sneak peak of the song “Far Cry” was shown on VH1 last night. Try not to slobber on your monitor.

[via Blabbermouth]

Good news for all Neil Peart groupies (…yes, we do enthusiastically include ourselves in that category): a new Rush DVD, Snakes & Arrows Live, will be released on November 25. The three-disc set was filmed with 21 high-def cameras in a wide-screen format (!), and it clocks in at 221 minutes (!!). Here’s the awesome amount of content listed by disc:

Disc 1
“Limelight”
“Digital Man”
“Entre Nous”
“Mission”
“Freewill”
“The Main Monkey Business”
“The Larger Bowl”
“Secret Touch”
“Circumstances”
“Between The Wheels”
“Dreamline”

Disc 1 Extras
What’s That Smell
2007 tour outtakes
What’s That Smell outtakes
“Far Cry” (alternate cut featuring rear screen footage)
“The Way The Wind Blows” (alternate cut featuring rear screen footage)
“Red Sector A” from the R30 Tour

Disc 2
“Far Cry”
“Workin’ Them Angels”
“Armor And Sword”
“Spindrift”
“The Way The Wind Blows”
“Subdivisions”
“Natural Science”
“Witch Hunt”
“Malignant Narcissism — De Slagwerker”
“Hope”
“Distant Early Warning”
“The Spirit Of Radio”
“Tom Sawyer”
“One Little Victory”
“A Passage To Bangkok”
“YYZ”

Disc 3
Oh, Atlanta – The Authorized Bootlegs
“Ghost Of A Chance”
“Red Barchetta”
“The Trees”
“2112/The Temples Of Syrinx”

For the three of you drumming fanatics who actually live in Pickerington, Ohio, this is old news. Feel free to continue tipping over cows.

But for the rest of us, here’s some nifty awesomeness about Neil Peart: his kit and bike are in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The pic below shows his R30 drum kit next to his BMW R1100GS. Click the pic for some more images, including a close-up of the bike’s odometer.