RUSH Drummer's Tales From The Road

December 2, 2007

RUSH drummer Neil Peart has posted a lengthy message on his web site consisting mostly of tales of his travels between shows on the band's recent European tour. An excerpt follows:

"Back in April of this year, just before the 'Snakes & Arrows' tour, I did a TV interview for the Canadian music channel MuchMusic. The camera-man placed the interviewer and me in the rehearsal hall, in front of my drums, where I had been labouring for several weeks by then. Some of the interviewer's questions seemed to angle toward a certain starry-eyed view of my work, especially the touring side of it, and I tried to explain to him that I didn't consider touring, or even drumming, to be my life.

"He seemed perplexed, and to appraise me as clearly jaded and cynical, because his next question was, 'When did you start to feel that way?'

"I paused to think for a couple of seconds, then was glad to feel the mental light bulb illuminate a true and clear answer. I was able to answer honestly, 'About a month into the first tour, in 1974.' That really was when I started to feel that touring was 'not enough,' and turned to reading books as a way to make more use of the days and nights.

"Partly out of sheer contrariness, but partly out of a desire for context, I often refer to playing the drums, with deliberate disrespect, as 'the job' — hitting things with sticks. Obviously it means much more to me than that, and has been a central focus in my life. But still, it seems rather sad to hear anyone say that their work is their life.

"Not family and friends? Not reading and writing? Not hiking or cross-country skiing or bird-watching or motorcycle riding or swimming? Just work? I don't think so. Earlier in the tour, when we played in Portland, Oregon, someone in the audience had apparently seen that interview, and ventured to disagree publicly with my opinion on the subject of my life. Far back on the stage-left side of the house I saw a large sign, in big block letters, 'NP - THIS IS YOUR LIFE.' Well, thanks, but no thanks.

"Of course it's just my opinion, but to me, my life is not dedicated to the place, but to the journey, and to the hour of arriving. All the while knowing that, all too soon, there will come the hour of departing."

Read the entire message at this location.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).