It seems that popular guitarist Tom Morello is taking a walk through Rage Against The Machine’s history. Morello recently posted a photo earlier this week of him visiting the site of the band’s first-ever photoshoot.
Morello’s remarkable guitar playing in Rage Against The Machine showcased how a guitar maestro should be. He combined the guitar tones and effects with creativity. He led a fusion of classic rock, punk, and hip-hop unlike anything the world had ever seen, while simultaneously writing era-defining riffs for both Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave.
Tom is the sole member of the band who attended the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last November at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The band’s induction came after the band appeared on six ballots.
Tom Morello to get honored with prestigious award
It has been announced that Tom Morello will receive the 2024 Woody Guthrie Prize on September 25 at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The aforementioned annual award recognizes a recipient who displays the spirit of Guthrie’s social consciousness and musical legacy.
Previous recipients of the award include Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples, Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Chuck D, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen and Pussy Riot as well as groundbreaking TV producer Norman Lear.
It has been also announced that following the ceremony, Morello will participate in an onstage conversation exploring his work and inspirations before performing an acoustic set.
“Woody Guthrie was a fearless agitator, a six-string instigator, a poetic truth teller and a harmonizing hell raiser,” Morello said in a statement.
“He was the original punk rocker whose life, music, art and lyrics were beacons of justice and liberation for the downtrodden and oppressed. In my own work, Woody has been an inspiration to tell it like I see it without compromise or apology and to play my songs (and his songs) on the picket line and at the barricade whenever and wherever people are taking a stand.”
“Tom is one of today’s most outraged and outrageously talented artists,” Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter, said in a statement. “Lucky for us, he channels this outrage towards injustice, towards inequity and towards anti-democratic vigilantes. He doesn’t just speak truth to power, he screams truth to power. Woody’s favorite word was ‘Union.’ Turns out, it’s Tom Morello’s favorite word too.”
The September 25 event is also set to feature comments from Guthrie’s granddaughter, Anna Canoni, and Cady Shaw, director of the Woody Guthrie Center, which is also in Tulsa. The public can join this year’s event through a variety of experience packages available now for members and for the general public beginning Monday, June 3 at 10 a.m. CT.
In the past, Tom Morello has won two Grammys, both for his work with Rage. “Tire Me” won Best Metal Performance in 1997. Meanwhile, “Guerrilla Radio” won best hard rock performance four years later. Rage Against The Machine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Morello was also the 2023 Music Will Humanitarian of the Year recipient and is an ACLU Artist for Smart Justice for his advocacy work.
