Why the band Rush is important to me

Summer of '92. I just graduated eighth grade and found myself loaded into the family car, being driven to rural Massachusetts by my dad and older sister.

Thanks to a generous grant by my local clubhouse of the Boys Club of New York, I was off to journalism camp at the Williston Northampton School. Much of that summer is a bit fuzzy now; my mind is sadly not as sharp as it used to be with names.

However, I still retain some details and emotions. It was the summer when I fell hard for someone, and she had no qualms in telling me that she absolutely did not feel the same. I ran back to my dorm room crushed, tears streaming down my face as my 13 year old heart was pounded into sand. It probably should have prepared me for high school, but it didn't.

I did have fun learning the basics of photography, writing and layout design. It was the first time I was introduced to the concept of being a journalist, and I have to say that the program is what started me (initially) down the road to wanting to go to J-school. Obviously, I took a much different path. Suffice it to say, the seed was planted there.

The thing, however, from that summer that sticks with me the most was a band that was introduced to me by one of the older kids in the camp. He was about 16 or 17 I would say; I knew he was at least a couple of years older than me. He might have been from Texas; again, the details are lost in the sands of my mind.

But one night early in camp, he let me borrow his portable CD player when I asked him what he was listening to. He handed me the headphones and pushed a button to move the disc to track one.

What I heard was this:

And my life changed that night.

He had two discs with him: Moving Pictures and their most recent album, Roll the Bones. The first chance I had to go shopping after that evening, I found myself in the casette tape section of a local store and I purchased both tapes. I may or may not have worn those tapes out over the course of the next couple of years.

Flash forward to March 1994. I finally have received a Discman. My dad has passed away. I'm not in the best headspace at all. The first two CDs I bought for myself to help me escape? Queen's Greatest Hits II and Counterparts by Rush. I played this track a lot, trying to learn the guitar part and failing miserably because, well, I sucked:

But it gave me a place to go and forget about the pain that I was feeling on the outside.


Skip ahead to 1997. In college now. I've met a girl named Carrie. She worked the front desk of my residence hall freshman year, and she was a Rush fan as well. No, we weren't dating; she was older than me and was seeing someone. But she did invite me to go with her to see Rush play at the (then-named) Riverport Amphitheater in the St. Louis area and spend the night at her family's place.

It was the first time I saw a band play in an amphitheater. For a summer night in St. Louis, it actually wasn't that bad temperature wise, and it was an unbelieveable show. By this point, I was full on into the band, owning every album they had done to date on CD. (My old tapes from the summer before high school had loooooong since bit the dust.)

This song was played right before the end of the first set, which was closed out by a performance of 2112, their magnum opus from the album of the same name.

It was an awesome transition song, and a fun night.

Moving ahead to 2002-2003. I'm living in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The woman to whom I will eventually be related by marriage is living in Central Illinois. Not exactly ideal conditions to try to keep a relationship going. It involved commuting whenever I could.

2002-2003 was when the band went on tour to support the album Vapor Trails. Vapor Trails was released in 2001. The band came out of a four year hiatus due to tragedies suffered by drummer Neil Peart, when he lost his daughter to a car accident and his wife to cancer within a year. He chronicles the literal and figurative journey he took after losing his loved ones in the powerful book Ghost Rider. Vapor Trails, while not my favorite album, has one of the best opening tracks that is guaranteed to keep you awake as your travel across Michigan late at night:

It's hard to fall asleep when you're airdrumming to One Little Victory. I speak from experience.

"From day one, the band built its following the right way. No hype, no (baloney), they did it from the ground up without any help from the mainstream press …Their influence is undeniable and their devoted fan base is only rivaled by the Grateful Dead ...And their legacy is that of a band that stayed true to themselves no matter how uncool they may have seemed to anyone." ~Dave Grohl, upon inducting Rush into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

He's right. I never worried about whether or not they were "cool". It didn't matter to me that my favorite band was not on MTV or VH1 or featured on Z100 in the morning. Yes, I listened to music from the big alternative bands of that day. Most of them are gone now for a variety of reasons or have faded into relative obscurity, playing the county fair circuit during the summer.

With the release of their 20th studio album, Clockwork Angels, in 2012, it appears that Rush is finally gaining a level of acceptance from some mainstream outlets like Rolling Stone. Maybe it's based on longevity, but you also have to give them credit for doing things their way. Because it is hard to argue with the results.

Rush was (finally) inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18, 2013. I may not have been with them since day one, and they have no idea who I am. But they have meant a lot to me over the years and still do. I am exceedingly pleased that they are getting the rewards I believe they deserve.