The Sword Cover Rush’s ‘Working Man’

The Sword had planned to be out on tour with Primus this summer watching them pay tribute to Rush. Instead, the veteran rockers are at home during the pandemic, but finding their own special way to pay tribute Rush, rocking a cover of “Working Man” for their “Conquest of Quarantine Lockdown Session” series.

The band’s members have all social distanced to their respective homes, but still have the vibe to connect live, even on a cover song. For this session, the group is taking on Rush’s “Working Man,” giving the prog favorite some distortion filled stoner rock heaviness, toying just enough with the arrangement to make it their own.

One of the band members, with their head not quite visible for viewing, makes sure we get the Rush love in there sporting one of the iconic Canadian band’s T-shirts. And no, you’re eyes aren’t deceiving you. When things get very riff-heavy in the song, there are some double vision shots going on.

Singer JD Cronise says, “Bryan [Richie] had this mixtape of slowed down Rush songs called ‘Slush’ that we used to listen to all the time on tour. We loved it because it was super heavy, the vocals sounded wild, and even slowed down the performances were flawless because, y’know … it’s Rush. One day we realized that the pitch of the songs was about two whole steps below standard, which also happened to be how we normally tuned our guitars. So it seemed pretty obvious that we should cover one of the songs in that tuning.”

He continued, “‘Working Man’ was one of the less difficult ones to pull off because again … it’s Rush! We played it live on a mostly Canadian tour a few years ago, but we never got a chance to record it. Since we were set to open the East Coast leg of Primus’s Rush tribute tour, which had to be rescheduled for summer 2021, including it in our ‘Conquest of Quarantine’ session seemed like a no brainer.”

“Working Man” completes the three installment “Conquest of Quarantine” session, following their cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” and a fresh take on “Winter’s Wolves.” The Sword are also promoting their Conquest of Kingdoms vinyl box set, available here, as well as the Chronology 2006-2018 CD box set available here.

As for that planned tour with Primus celebrating Rush’s A Farewell to Kings, it will take place in 2021. Dates can be viewed below.

The Sword, “Working Man” (Rush Cover)

Primus / The Sword “A Tribute to Kings” 2021 Tour

June 9 – Houston, Texas @ Revention Music Center*
June 11 – Irving, Texas @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory*
June 12 – Austin, Texas @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater*
June 13 – New Orleans, La. @ Saenger Theatre*
June 15 – Orlando, Fla. @ Hard Rock Live*
June 16 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Coca-Cola Roxy*
June 20 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre*
June 22 – Asheville, N.C. @ Exploreacheville.com Arena*
June 23 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Red Hat Amphitheater*
June 25 – Richmond, Va. @ Virginia Credit Union Live!*
June 26 – Baltimore, Md. @ MECU Pavilion*
June 27 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Stage AE*
June 29 – Essex Junction, Vt. @ Midway Law at Champlain Valley Expo*
July 1 – Westbrook, Maine @ Main Savings Pavilion at Rock Row*
July 2 – Wallingford, Ct. @ Oakdale Theatre*
July 5 – Lafayette, N.Y. @ Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards (no the Sword)
July 6 – Boston, Mass. @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion*
July 8 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre*
July 9 – Asbury Park, N.J. @ The Stone Pony Summer Stage*
July 10 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Met*
July 13 – Toronto, Ontario @ RBC Echo Beach*
July 15 – Columbus, Ohio @ Express Live! Outdoor*
July 16 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica*
July 17 – Sterling Heights, Mich. @ Freedom Hill Amphitheatre*
July 19 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ PNC Pavilion*

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Author: showrunner