exploremusic

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine find inspiration in some very interesting places. If you ask him, he’ll tell you that his favourite guitarist of all time is Joe Hill. Joe who? Joe was a Swedish-born singer-songwriter who moved to America and drifted from job to job before becoming a union organizer. Then there was an incident where Joe was arrested for murder.

There was a sensational trial and based on some specious evidence, Joe was convicted and executed by firing squad in 1914. No recordings of Joe Hill exist—-but that doesn’t matter to Tom. He’s inspired by Joe’s never-say-die, in-your-face attitude . Joe united people of different backgrounds through music—and that’s what Tom tries to do with Rage Against the Machine.