So you like RUSH…

I remember the first time I heard Rush, it was at my eighth grade dance but I don't remember too many people dancing. I then remember hearing the song Subdivisions and a few others at the Papa Jay's Pizza Shop on the jukebox and wondering why someone would even want to sing like that! Fast-forward about four years later and my girlfriend has two tickets to see Rush for free in the press box. I was blown away by how on earth these three guys were making all of this music and put on a great rock show at the same time. I have always been drawn to bands that could perform a good killer rock show and these guys delivered the goods in a live setting. It would be many years later before Freewill started performing, and I never even thought about it at the time, but I do remember walking out of that concert having gained a valuable musical education that night.

Years later we made the mistake of playing Tom Sawyer during our debut show for “Big Jim and the Twins”. Big Mistake….The people just liked their music better …what can I say. So more RUSH tunes made their way into our set list and then a promoter said these haunting words, ”Why don’t you just become a RUSH tribute band.” First thing I would tell you, don’t do it. Turn around and run away… fast! Being in a Rush tribute is almost as bad as being an addict.

If you start doing it eventually you will have to do it right and to do it right will take a lot of time, perseverance, and a lot tears along the way. But the problem is, if you do it right and you have some great Rush fans in front of you enjoying the show that's all you need to bring you back for the next fix.

I truly do enjoy performing the music of Rush as it is always a challenge, but more than that it is the actual feeling of performing the music whether it is for a bunch of happy fans in a venue or in the rehearsal studio with two other insane carbon unit’s “chasing the chicken” as our trusty tech Squanto says. This music makes me feel good and really…. What else is there to say! I’ll save the rest for next time!

Over the years my equipment has grown as I've tried to keep up with the technology that Rush uses for their music. But recently I was surprised to learn that Rush has used the same equipment for almost 15 years. I have basically tried to use the same equipment as Geddy Lee since I am performing in a Rush tribute band, it would make sense, but my pocket book is a bit smaller… I do the best that I can!

I have a few guitars that are dear to me and these are a few of them.

My #1 bass a black Rickenbacker that sounds sweet and is close to getting its grade 12.
Next up is my #2 Geddy Lee Fender Jazz bass also affectionately known as the amazing rubber neck!

Meet Ricky and Julian.

I have a few others that come out to play usually during full moons!

My keyboard set up has changed dramatically over the last 15 years it's gone from one keyboard up to four keyboards now back down to two main keyboards I perform with. For years I was strictly a Korg keyboard man, they weren’t too pricey and had pretty good tone, but about five years ago I decided I was going to get some new toys and update my keyboard set up.

Around that time Moog announced that they were building a new monophonic keyboard called the Little Phatty. I have always been partial to Moog tones since hearing the Taurus pedals on all the classic Rush albums, it is just a great tone and I've always loved it. I decided I would buy one and noticed that Moog had made a tribute edition which was a little more fancy with very nice wood on the outside. As a bonus it was signed by the legendary Bob Moog. Then on the next Rush tour I realized that Geddy Lee also had a new Little Phatty, I really lucked out with my choice of new keyboard. I also just recently purchased a Roland X7 keyboard which is what Geddy uses basically for a midi controller on stage for most of his key passages.

We also have three MIDI step foot pedals that we use for triggering samples on stage that is connected to a computer with multiple samples. However all samples are triggered by us during the show so we are not playing to any tapes or backing tracks other than the ones we are triggering ourselves during a live performance. Just like the big boys.

What's a girl to wear...

I have plenty of Geddy Lee accessories at my disposal if needed including this little number!

Enjoy

Spageddy Lee