It’s no secret that Canadian prog rockers Rush are big fans of space exploration, whether it’s 1976’s 2112, the space rock opera that thrust them into stardom, or 1982’s “Countdown,” a song that describes the launch of space shuttle Columbia that the band watched from a VIP area at the Kennedy Space Center.
It’s only fitting that Rush would, in turn, influence Canadian cosmonaut Chris Hadfield, who says he started listening to them in high school and was drawn to the band’s “incredible originality and dissatisfaction with normal” in a new video post he’s made from aboard the International Space Station (you can watch it above.)
Music has always been a part of Hadfield’s life, from his early years of listening to his mom play piano, as well as the harmonies of the Kingston Trio and Gordon Lightfoot, learning how to play guitar to Peter, Paul and Mary and being influenced by the “deep background of Stan Rogers," he says in the video. "The Canadian content Stan brought, [and] his ability to express what Canadians are through music.”
It makes sense then that Hadfield would be premiering his musical collaboration with the Barenaked Ladies’ Ed Robertson on Feb. 8, with Hadfield floating in space and Robertson firmly on ground at the Toronto CBC studios.
It’s all part of Music Mondays, a program started in 2005 to teach students across Canada about the unifying power of song. For more details visit Musicmakesus.ca, and come back tomorrow for an update from Robertson.
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posted by
CBC Music
on Jan 30, 2013