As most of you know, Donna is credited with discovering Rush. What many people may not know is she’s also an accomplished author, educator and media historian who recently successfully defended her dissertation for her Phd.

Late in 2010, Donna took some time from writing her most recent book on the history of Boston radio (which has since been released) as well as her dissertation and graciously invited us to her home outside of Boston to discuss that little Canadian band. She’s an amazing storyteller and I would highly recommend going to see her speak if she’s ever in your town. We trimmed our discussion down to under 20 minutes, though it easily could have been over an hour.

I hope this video will not only be an informative look at Donna Halper, but also serve as a tribute to an amazing woman.

Donna Halper, with the album that started it all in 1974.

Donna Halper is online @ http://www.donnahalper.com/
Her books are available here on Amazon.com and anywhere fine books are sold.

Lotus Land

“The Approach”

It has often been said that “youth is wasted on the young.” On the face of things, this seems to be an obvious maxim. After all, no one would disagree that a youth’s time is spent mostly on the frivolities of life; “hot and windy august afternoons,” (shall we say!) riding bicycles, jumping into lakes, or just hanging out with friends. However, youthful energy is sometimes channeled into something more constructive…

* sometimes, for example, a young teenager takes up the playing of a musical instrument.

For those who are persistent in this endeavor, it eventually becomes obvious that mastering an instrument is no different than any other artistic pursuit; it always remains a work in progress. Simply put, there is always room to improve your facility !

It would seem that the three artists who make up the band Rush know this quite well. Anyone who has been a fan of their music is familiar with their thirty plus year evolution as both song writers and on stage performers. Over Rush’s span of two dozen albums and countless tours, it has long been apparent that they are a band of perfectionists who have failed only in their inability to exhaust their talent. It seems that they always have something new to offer musically, and their live show is always a thrill for non-musicians and musicians alike.

In this band we have named Lotus-Land, we take great pride in being a three piece band whose performance, we feel, will please even the most fanatical Rush fan. In a nutshell, we strive to be the closest thing musically to Rush that anyone has yet heard. Whether or not we achieve this goal will surely remain a matter of opinion. What is far less subjective is the fact that we have dedicated ourselves to this end. When all is said and done, we hope to bring you the music of Rush with a live sound as big and true to form as can be heard anywhere.

(Okay…except for when Geddy, Alex, and Neil get together to make some noise!)

-MD

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