Rush guitarist writes melodic song to fallen St. Catharines band-mate

Sitting on the deck of the late Neil Peart’s Santa Monica home keeping his ailing band-mate company, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson started strumming a melodic tune that he’d eventually call “Western Sunsets.”

It was shortly before St. Catharines native Peart died of brain cancer in January 2020 and the resulting tune, an acoustic electric instrumental, would now clock in at just two-and-a-half minutes – decidedly short if it was a Rush song.

The song is now the last track on the self-titled album Envy of None, a new band featuring Lifeson on guitar, which is set to be released April 8.

Life recently told David Friend of the Canadian Press that he wanted to pay tribute to Peart “without being too maudlin about it.”

The story of Peart joining Rush is now legendary. The drummer was working at his father’s farm equipment company in St. Catharines when he stepped in to replace original Rush drummer John Rutsey, who had to step away from the band due to health issues caused by diabetes.

The year was 1974 and just a month before Peart joined, the band had released the self-titled debut album “Rush.”

Peart would go on to become the band’s primary lyricist, even incorporating local venues such as Port Dalhousie’s “Lakeside Park” into their repertoire.

Lifeson told Friend that while he knows most will assume the new tune is a tribute song to Peart because die-hard Rush fans will focus on that aspect, to him personally, “It’s a beautiful song that captures a moment that was difficult. Every time I hear it, I remember those things. So it’s very personal to me.”

– With files from CP