(Gibson) Rush guitarist, and Gibson Signature Artist, Alex Lifeson recently spoke to the U.K.'s Express & Star about how English bands were a huge influence on him and his group. Lifeson said that touring the U.K. for the first time "left a big impact on us.""The first time was, I guess in '76, when we were a relatively unknown band. I remember how exciting it was to come to the root of where our hearts lay in terms of music," he said. "There was The Who, for sure, and earlier on, the Stones. For me it was always more the Stones than, say, The Beatles."
Lifeson went on to name-check some of the other legendary British bands. "But there were all those other great bands from the '60s. The Searchers were amazing, The Zombies were incredible," he said. "And then over the years came Cream, The Who, Zeppelin of course, Jeff Beck and then Yes – it just goes on and on and on. That really was where our musical tastes were centered. And I think that was more a Canadian thing as well. I think generally Canadians lean more towards the U.K. than they did to America. We had the benefit of absorbing from both sides." more on this story
