Throughout my life as a drummer, I've been inspired by the world around me ? always in the pursuit of listening, learning, and emulating rhythm and sonic textures ? spending countless hours of my life learning about time, feel, groove, patience and discipline from some of the greats.
I remember at the age of 14 years old, living in Utah (we had just moved from the family farm just outside of Innisfail, Alberta, Canada), my friend, Mike Taylor, introduced me to Van Halen. I remember listening to the first song of that record, "Running with the Devil.? It freaked me out a bit. Coming from a religious family I thought, ?Holy crap! Should I be listening to this?!? The electric guitar, the bass, that voice and especially those drums ? they sounded like they were being hit by giant spatulas.
I was inspired!
I turned to Mike and asked, ?What else you got?? "Have you heard of Rush? They're from your Canadian homeland!? I replied, ?They?re from Canada? I?ve never heard of them.? He placed the needle on the first song of the album ?Permanent Waves?. The song started, the guitar entered, then came the syncopated hits, and then this EPIC drum fill, cascading down the tom-toms! "What the heck was that?!? I continued to listen and as the song ended, I was inspired and my life was changed forever!
In the spirit of inspiration, with a little perspiration, I share with you my tribute to one of my all-time sources of motivation and creativity, one of the greats, Neil Peart.
Enjoy!
Joel
Track Listing:
One Little Victory
Caravan
Far Cry
Dreamline
Bravado
Show Don?t Tell
Time Stand Still
Force Ten
The Big Money
Marathon
Middletown Dreams
Between The Wheels
The Body Electric
Subdivisions
Digital Man
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Spirit Of Radio
Freewill
Natural Science
La Villa Strangiato
Xanadu
2112 Overture
Closer To The Heart
