Ever since I was a four year old girl, growing up in the north eastern United States in the midst of the turmoil that would eventually become my parents divorce, the three members of the band Rush have been my rock, both literally and figuratively. To me, they are akin to three wise older brothers who, simply by being who they were, seemed to always be there through their Muse, showing me that empathy, at times, can exist hand in hand with sympathy, in that both, respectively, coincide with understanding. It was through their expressive dialogue, in the form of Progressive Fantasy Rock, that I learned, at a very young age, that we are very much in control of our destinies. They spiked my curiosity for literature, with epic tales such as “2112” and “Xanadu.” In my later years, as a high school senior, it had come
to be known to me, to my extreme delight, that an original poem entitled, “Khubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was the basis for the afore mentioned “Xanadu”.

In later years it would come to my attention, that Rush, in what I now see as an expression of self healing, identified with the youth of my generation in regards to songs such as “Circumstances”, where Neil Peart described his own experiences as a teenager following his dreams of becoming a drummer in a foreign country an ocean away. “Subdivisions”, was and still is, a snapshot look at the ongoing struggle that all teenagers, in any era, go through to find a balance between the three major struggles that we all face while growing into young adulthood: peer pressure, acceptance, and individuality. Although the song was released when I was eight years old, it has become a constant reminder throughout my life that an imagination will always be the one true friend that never lets you down. Yes, dare I say it; there is most assuredly a Rush that comes from creating. It exists on multiple levels, combining and feeding off of one another in order to form a more perfect union between The Psyche, the Spirit and the Heart. In a sense, the very act of creating is what taps us into the avenue that eventually leads us to becoming The Sphere. Then, through the discovery of courage, we realize, that “we can walk our roads together if our goals are all the same, and at the same time, we can run alone and free if we pursue a different aim.” {Neil Peart; The Sphere-1978}

I saw my first Rush concert in 1987 when I was 14 years old, at that point in my life I had grown up with the music of the band for 10 years. I went to the concert with my brother’s buddy Tom and his girlfriend Amy. I remember vividly to this day the exhilaration and the-{Rush}-{ he-he-he}-of excitement that I felt from the second that Rush took the stage. Our seats were four rows up from the floor and the audience stood up and remained standing throughout the entire performance. Now, let me re-iterate if I may, I had attended other concerts before this, Bon Jovi, Journey, Heart, just to name a few. I had never, on any of those occasions, witnessed a band, or for that matter a performer, or a performance, which commanded, as well as demanded, the full concentration and attention of an audience that was, as Rush commands it. With powerful drum beats that vibrated through every fiber of my being, under lying bass lines that descended and swelled into ever changing time signatures, melodic storytelling guitar solos, the in your face metaphorical messages, and a light, laser, and video show that entertained the eyes, it soon became clear that three of my five major senses were being barraged with stimulus. I went home that night feeling completely exhausted, while at the same time feeling more alive than I had ever felt in my life prior to that evening, and the next day I asked my mom about taking up the guitar. This concert was a life changing event.

This, for me, was a starting point to learn to play music. I went to Lawrence Music and met my first guitar instructor, John. With an acoustic guitar that I had rented from the shop, I proceeded to imbibe myself with the complex intricacies of learning to play this instrument which has since become like an additional appendage to my original form. However, I must admit, that at first, my desire was simply to learn how to play Rush Tunes, to bring about that euphoric high that was bestowed on me that night at the concert. However, once he began to teach me to read music using a Berklee music tutorial as my text book, my desires, found within me a niche of their own, and to this day, I am Spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, physically and mentally drawn into the aspect that the act of creating is, above all things, the truest definition of Human Nature in it’s most original and dearest form.
Aware of the fact that my desire was to become reminiscent of Alex Lifeson, who to this day I still consider a great Guitar Hero. It was with anticipation and an underlying eagerness that I began the long journey of endeavoring to become classically skilled, John began training me to become a lead guitarist as well as a songwriter. I remember him saying to me, “I know you are going to want to write your own music someday and you need to learn how to read music and understand it in order to be able to write your own compositions.” Needless to say, I did learn how to play and read music, and now, as, {for lack of a better word}, prophesied, I have written many a composition in relation to the life which I have lived, some of which, I have chosen to share with you on these pages.

Officially, I guess you could say that the first guitar riff that I ever learned to play was from “Fly By Night”, and the first entire Rush tune that I ever learned to completion was “The Trees”, which is the most advantageous song ever in regards to the intimacies and/or inner workings of secular humanism. Now, in this regard, there have been those times, as in anyone’s life, that my currents have seemed to turn awry, but I assure you, unlike the fallen Fathers of Shakespearian lore, I have never lost the name of action. I have been playing “The Trees” since I first learned of its multifaceted structure at the age of 16, and at the age of 21, I began to perform it at open stages in and around my hometown. It, like many other Rush tunes, has become inherent for me to play, and I now write songs by way of metaphorical lyrics as well as changing time signatures, which, I now know, are evocative to the knowledge which I have acquired and applied in my life in order to give birth to the wisdom that what I have assimilated from the experience of knowing Rush is forever a part of the Me that I have become. Their particular style is forever imbedded into my own, not in the fact that I try to copy or emulate it, but in the essential truth that it is, in its very existence, one of those experiences that has helped to shape me as an individual, by becoming a foundational Rock on which to stand and observe the world and truly see the essence of all essential nature.

Rush has influenced me to follow my dreams, no matter how wild or obscure they may be, and as I have discovered in my many meetings with other fans, they have not only touched and become a permanent fixture in my life, but in the lives of many others as well. So in closing may I say, It is only when we Neil that we truly begin to Geddy Lifeson.

If you wish to acquire more information in regards to the songs and/or inspirational creations spoken of here-in; please feel free to stop by SpunJacked.com and Myspace.com/More2MoreMusic…….

Lori Mortimore-Musician-Artist-Rush Fan.

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Lori at www.myspace.com/more2moremusic