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Neil Peart was born in Canada on September 12, 1952 . When he was 18 years of age, he journeyed to England with music on his mind. Once he got there, he quickly found himself selling trinkets to tourists in order to support himself. He did, however, discover a book called The Fountainhead, written by Ayn Rand, while there and Rand's writing has influenced Peart's writing throughout his career. The most obvious influence can be heard in the lyrics of 2112.Interestingly, Neil was in a band called Hush, before he joined Rush. Neil showed up to the audition for Rush in a beat up car carrying his drums in trash cans. After jamming for a bit, Neil was convinced that the whole audition was terrible, yet Geddy was won over by Neil and the two immediately hit it off. Alex was not so sure and Geddy had to convince him to let Neil into the band.
Neil has stayed with Rush up to this day. Together they have produced twenty (Studio&Live) albums. After the Counterparts tour, Neil sought out a drum guru named Freddie Grubber and took up lessons with him. The most obivous technique Neil gained from his lessons with Freiddie are his grip. Before, Neil almost always used match grip, now, at least for the songs on Test for Echo, he uses traditional grip. When they came to Polaris, here in Columbus, Ohio for the TFE Tour, I am fairly certain that I saw Neil playing matched grip on some of the older songs. However, he has applied these new found techniques to his drumming, and this new combination can be heard on Rush's newest album, Test For Echo.
Visit Neil's website - neilpeart.net
