Neil Peart was undeniably a revolutionary force in music, a craftsman who transformed percussion into an art form. Known for his intricate rhythms, technical precision, and imaginative lyricism, Peart’s contributions to Rush elevated the band to legendary status. His drumming was much more than simply providing the band with a rhythm backbone; it was also about telling stories, pushing boundaries, and inspiring generations of artists to strive for greatness.
In this spirit, veteran session drummer Ken Mary has embarked on a project that pays homage to Peart’s genius while demonstrating the profound difficulty of replicating it. Mary, whose career includes playing with rock and metal icons like Alice Cooper, Accept, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Fifth Angel – among many others – recently unveiled The Neil Peart Experiment. The video series culminates with his rendition of Rush’s iconic track, "Tom Sawyer," which we are premiering today.
Before skeptics jump to conclusions about this being an attempt to cash in on the late drummer’s legacy, Mary sets the record straight: “These are purely instructional videos, and they are NOT monetized on YouTube.” Far from a commercial endeavor, the project is more of a labor of love and respect for one of rock’s most revered drummers.
The concept originated during the pandemic lockdown when a fellow drummer from Seattle threw down the gauntlet. Given Mary’s extensive session work and his history of tackling complex music, the challenge was to remove the drum tracks from Rush songs and recreate them from scratch. The catch? He had to match the original performances as closely as possible – timing, fills, and all – without any editing, sampling, or post-production tweaks.
Adding to the difficulty, Rush’s recordings weren’t laid down with a click track, meaning their tempos subtly shifted, requiring Mary to adjust in real time. As he describes it, the challenge was akin to “removing the foundation of the house and replacing it.”
Mary explained the complexities of the project: “I know to people that have not recorded in the studio, this just looks like some guy playing the song. However, trying to duplicate the track as exactly as possible was more difficult than I imagined. I had to learn the fills and grooves as Neil played them back then, as he did change them slightly over the years. Then I had to know where the band surged or pulled back, so I could lock to the existing guitars and bass seamlessly with no editing, and again in one continuous pass.”
For Mary, the project was more than a technical exercise; it was a heartfelt homage to one of his heroes: “Rush didn’t use a click track. If anyone else wants to try this experiment, please do! But remember the rules! I have my individual GoPro video and audio to prove this was all recorded in one pass with no editing or enhancement. I hope Neil would have been pleased with this ‘experiment,’ and the fact that another artist would make the effort to record these songs, and to get them as close as possible using the original methods he used at that time,” he adds with humility.
As mentioned above, this is the last part of a three-video series. Check out the first two renditions of “YYZ” and “Freewill” below.
