NEW WORLD MAN
A SIMPLE CONVERSATION STARTER like “How are you?” usually elicits a response along the lines of “I’m good.” So it’s comforting — and not a little surprising — when Alex Lifeson, sounding cheery and robust, and maybe a little bit relieved, says, “I’m excellent.”
Understandably, this isn’t the reaction one might expect to hear from the guitarist given the difficult circumstances of the past year and a half. Compounding the Covid pandemic that has affected the world as a whole (forcing musicians, like everyone, to become virtual recluses), Lifeson was dealt a much harsher and more devastatingly personal blow in January 2020, when his dear friend and Rush bandmate Neil Peart passed away from glioblastoma. Five years before, Rush had called it quits as a touring band after the drummer insisted he didn’t want to perform any longer if he couldn’t play at peak level. Peart’s tragic death brought with it a definitive end to the group’s 40-year career.
“I FOUND THAT INSPIRATION AGAIN. SINCE JANUARY, I REALLY GOT BACK INTO IT IN A BIG WAY”
Since that time, Lifeson hasn’t talked to the press that much. “I feel like it’s been a while since I spoke to anybody,” he says, noting that he spent the majority of 2020 grieving Peart’s loss and processing his thoughts. Playing the guitar — always his salvation in good times and bad, and his fiercest pursuit since he took up the instrument at the age of 12 — held no interest for him. “I just didn’t feel inspired,” he says.
But shortly after the first anniversary of Peart’s death, he picked it up again. “And very quickly, it all came flooding back,” he says. “I found that inspiration again. Since January, I really got back into it in a big way, which is great, because I love playing. It was difficult to just put it down and not be interested in playing, so it’s nice that it’s returned.”
He has other reasons to feel upbeat: There was the recent release of the Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess Standard, a beautifully crafted (and moderately priced) remake of his earlier custom model for Gibson. And he even has a new band project, Envy
