Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello discussed how changing up the guitar he used helped define his supergroup with Tool guitarist Adam Jones in a new social media post.
Morello wrote, “My first guitar. A $50 Kay. SG knockoff. Lotta knobs. Didn’t stay in tune. Perfect. Got it at Rigoni Music in Libertyville, Illinois. Took two lessons which I hated and then it sat in a closet for 4 years untouched.
“Then at 17 I bought a Sex Pistols cassette and formed a band within 24 hrs, culling beginner musicians from the Libertyville High School Drama Club. Wielded this guitar in that band, The Electric Sheep [which also featured Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass]. First ever shows and recordings. When I got a better guitar this one went back in the closet. For about 30 years. Pulled it out awhile back, cleaned it up, and have been recording with it ever since. Like today.”
He also recently revealed a book called Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America, “Just finished this great book about #TheWeavers, #PeteSeeger’s heroic group of folk troubadours who fought the good fight for decades with courage & harmony.
Believing strongly that music could and SHOULD play an important role in social movements they were blacklisted, spied upon, physically assaulted, threatened with jail time and dragged before Congressional hearings. Which I suppose proves they were right. They remain an important link in the historical chain of freedom fighting musicians. I salute their memory and will continue to try to walk the trail they blazed.”
