Alex Lifeson reveals Rush tour, album details in new interview

[Rush's Alex Lifeson on doing what he loves]

UPDATE - 3/27@12:38AM: ... and there's this JAM! Music interview with Neil Peart (thanks katskahnne) where he confirms that Nick Raskulinecz has been helping the band on the production side of things once again:

... Rush drummer Neil Peart says the group�s Canadian Songwriting Hall of Fame induction Sunday night in Toronto comes as he is in the midst of writing lyrics for the next Rush studio album. He says the band is about five songs into the record with co-producer Nick Raskulinecz, from 2007�s Snakes and Arrows, but won�t talk about the sound or how or when the tunes will be released or subsequent tour plans. �I stopped in Toronto a couple of weeks back and went over to Geddy�s house and listened to what they�ve been working on from my lyrics and it�s very exciting, we�ve got probably five very good songs there,� Peart told QMI Agency. �So we were saying, �Well, I kind of just want to keep working on this and finish the record.� But on the other hand we were thinking, �Well, something we haven�t done since the �80s is write new songs and go out and play them.� It�s interesting to be so deeply involved in songwriting right now with this honour coming up. It kind of puts a fresh observation on it for me.�

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This coming Sunday, March 28th Rush will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at the Hall's 6th annual Gala at the George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts. On Tuesday the CBC posted a nearly hour-long video interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson where they discuss the upcoming induction with Laurie Brown. The two divulged that the band has been writing new material and have 6 new songs written already. Then yesterday the Canadian Press published an article/interview with Neil Peart regarding his thoughts on the induction and revealed even more information regarding the band's new material. Unfortunately neither of these interviews said much regarding the band's next tour, but a more recent interview with Alex Lifeson published in today's Toronto Globe and Mail most certainly does. When asked about the band's next album Lerxst reiterated his bandmates' statements and also revealed several details regarding not only the tour, but the next Rush album as well:

... We were off for a year and a half, and now it's just pouring. Everything is totally crazy and there's not a minute left in the day. We've got these half-dozen songs, and we'll probably go in the studio and work on a couple of them and see how it goes, perhaps release something � and I say perhaps � and then we plan on being on the road in the middle of June. Ideally, we'd like to showcase a couple of these songs on the tour, come off tour in mid-October, go back in the studio and continue writing, then record through late this year and early next year, and then release the album in the spring of 2011 on a slightly more substantial tour. This [year's] tour will probably be about 45 dates. Most likely summer, 2011, would be more like 70. ...

Wow! There's a lot to digest here so we'll take one thing at a time. His statement that they plan on being on the road in the middle of June confirms all the rumors we've been hearing that the tour would start in mid-late June. But Alex adds to that saying it will end mid-October and include around 45 dates which would be similar in scope to the 2008 tour. But that's not all folks! He goes on to say that they'd then probably hit the studio late this year and record a full album to be released in the Spring of 2011 ... then embark on a major, 70-date tour in 2011! My guess is that the 2011 tour would include Europe and possibly South America. I think this is the almost confirmation we've been waiting for. Now all we need are the official dates. For the sake of completeness, here's my current list of tentative/rumored tour dates:

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