In a new interview with The Rockman Power Hour, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson insisted that he still has a modest view of his place in the music world, despite his status as one of the most legendary rock musicians of the past half century. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “You get a lot of celebrity thrown at you and all of that stuff. It’s just normal in this fan world. But honestly, I’m just a guy who loves playing guitar, and I always have, since I was 11 years old. I feel so lucky that I have that, and it’s not about having a successful career or any of this.”I play guitar every day. I play usually for — I don’t know — three or four hours a day,” he explained. “I play for an hour before I go to bed every night. I like to have a little puff, and then I sit down. I keep a couple of guitars in the bedroom, and I go back and forth — it’s nylon string one day, steel string [the next day] — and I play for an hour, and I’m lost. And I don’t play scales or I don’t practice. I just play guitar because it’s so fucking amazing to be able to do that. And I’m gonna do it until my last breath. I know that. And I don’t attach any kind of specialness to it. It’s just blessing for me that I can do that. And then if I can apply it to other people’s music and use my skills that I’ve learned over the years to do something to make their music better, that’s a real gratifying experience for me.”I work on a lot of different projects,” Lifeson added. “I’m working on a project now with some of the guys from BARENAKED LADIES and the RHEOSTATICS on a Great Lakes documentary, and it’s all jam based, so we have hours and hours of jamming and now we’re editing and putting it all together. Wow. What a great experience that is, because it’s not being a big shot. It’s there playing with other great players, making great music, and everybody’s contributing. And that’s the essence of being a musician and being a part of this whole musical world. It’s not about being a big shot.”RUSH drummer Neil Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.RUSH waited three days to announce Peart’s passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.Since Peart’s death, Lifeson and Lee have not recorded any new music or performed live under the RUSH name, although both of them confirmed that several drummers reached out to them in the days after the legendary drummer’s passing about the possibility of stepping in for Neil.Lifeson made his mark on the music industry over 50 years ago, redefining the boundaries of progressive rock guitar. His signature riffing, copious use of effects processing and unorthodox chord structures befitted him the title by his RUSH bandmates as “The Musical Scientist.” While the bulk of Lifeson’s work in music has been with RUSH, he has contributed to a body of work outside of the band as a guitarist, producer and with the release of his 1996 solo album “Victor”. Lifeson ranks third overall in the Guitar World readers’ poll of “100 Greatest Guitarists” and is also included in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.”ENVY OF NONE, the band featuring Lifeson, Andy Curran (CONEY HATCH),Alfio Annibalini and singer Maiah Wynne, released its second album, “Stygian Wavz”, on March 14 via Kscope.Photo credit: Richard Sibbald (courtesy of Kscope)[embedded content]
