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Rock guitarist Morello focusing on activist folk
12/07/2008 12:00 AM, Reuters
With two albums out, more than 50 songs that haven't yet been recorded and a world gone awry, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello plans to stay politically and musically busy in his solo incarnation as the Nightwatchman. Morello adopted the alter ego in 2003 while playing mainstream rock with his post-rage band, Audioslave. In his new guise, he performs activist folk music in the vein of Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen. "It's not just going to keep going; this is my principal musical focus, as I see it, for the remainder of my life," he said. "From the earliest days of playing open-mic nights at coffeehouses, it was apparent to me that this music was as important to me as any music I've ever been involved in. It really encapsulates everything I want to do as an artist." Morello insisted the Nightwatchman will not let his guard down even during the term of President-elect Barack Obama -- despite "eerie similarities" of "both having Kenyan fathers and white Midwestern mothers and having attended Harvard and . . . being devastatingly handsome." Having reunited with Rage in 2007, Morello said he's "certain there will be more (Rage) shows" -- and is equally sure that there will not be another Rage album. "There are no plans for that," he said. "We've had a wonderful year-and-a-half of playing shows, and I don't see any reason to not play more shows. The thing is there's only so many hours in the musical day, and mine are very occupied right now." Reuters/Billboard
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