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Mystic Rhythms is dedicated to bringing their fans the most authentic Rush experience next to the real thing. From costumes to lighting to the instruments themselves, they strive to evoke the look and vibe of each of Rush’s 4 decades. But most importantly, is their commitment to the music and to sonic accuracy – in the performance and sounds.

Steve Long:

Steve is 100% self taught on the guitar, which he began playing at age 14. After wearing out his first cheapo electric model he upgraded to a brand new 1983 Gibson SG. This was around the time he developed a real connection with Alex’s textures and sound-scapes and began to learn the intricate parts by ear. He formed a band in high school which allowed him to perform Rush songs in front of an audience for the first time. Without a singer, the band’s choices were limited to YYZ and La Villa Strangiato, so both were performed at the school’s talent show in 1986. This was the beginning of something huge! Steve kept learning as much Rush tunes as possible while meeting more like-minded musicians. Early Rush cover bands Steve started were Counterparts and Limbo, which paved the way to help create what is Mystic Rhythms today. For seventeen of these years, Steve has worked alongisde Adam Pliss, and has developed a very large repertoire of Rush’s newer material with him. With the addition of Paul who was more geared towards the older material, Steve now has the majority of Rush’s expansive repertoire under his belt, and is thrilled to finally have a project with which to explore this vast terrain. Steve has also had a strong presence in the Rush fan community throughout the years creating and maintaining websites Half The World’s A Stage and Rush Tribute Radio. Steve has also had the honor of playing at Rush conventions for fellow fans.

Adam Pliss:

Adam began his music career at the age of nine years old playing the Flute in elementary school. After four years of studying and learning this instrument, he began to show interest in percussion – playing snare drum in the school band. At the age of thirteen, he purchased a used “beat up” drum set thinking this might be helpful in his social endeavors. This was exactly what he needed to bang the youthful tensions away and make some new friends. Unfortunately, those friends did not include his neighbors – who reacted strongly his incessant banging. Enter electronic drums – where Adam discovered that between his headphones, he could bang away all he wanted, and no one would be the wiser. As a perk, he discovered the world of samples, and also developed excellent timing while playing along with preset patterns. To this day, what Adam most enjoys are drum effects, sounds, samples, to creating complex sequencing patterns. But his internal journey took him further, and Adam developed a unique way of learning drum parts without actually playing them. He reveled in bands like Pink Floyd, Rush & Dio and took in global styles as well. Now, even when learning Rush songs, he mentally visualizes what he hears – essentially practicing in his mind – and is largely able to play it upon a first run through the song behind an actual kit. Adam is committed to mastering the art of drumming as a life long quest, and thrilled to have this band to do that.

Paul Armento:

Paul began his musical career on the drums at age 4, but moved to the piano by age 6. He honed his chops to keyboard-heavy progressive bands like Yes and ELP, until he discovered Rush at age 15 – whereupon he picked up the bass and started singing. The music has not stopped since. Today, Paul co-owns and is musical director of the nation’s top 80’s tribute band, “Jessie’s Girl” and was featured in Keyboard Magazine for his work designing keyboard sounds for that project. He is also 80’s pop star Debbie Gibson’s musical director, and has appeared with Debbie on Good Morning America and the 2012 season finale of Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice – where he musical directed on-camera with Debbie, Clay Aiken, and Dee Snider, among others. Paul has performed with 80’s pop stars MC Hammer, Howard Jones, Tiffany, Rob Base, Naughty By Nature, Sugar Hill Gang, Taylor Dayne, Bret Michaels, A Flock of Seagulls, Men At Work, Tony Harnell of TNT, and Triumph’s Rik Emmett. Paul has also produced, directed, edited and scored 2 Off-Broadway musicals and 2 independent movies, and ran his own kids’s theatre troupe (Sandcastle) for 10 years – performing 800+ shows around the NY area. Now, he is thrilled to bring his love of theater and music together with the band that has provided the underscore for his life to date…Rush. He is amazed and grateful to have found two kindred souls to take the journey alongside him.