The Nightwatchman | |
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Background information | |
Born | New York City, U.S. | May 30, 1964
Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 2003–present |
Labels | Epic |
The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club and former Audioslave). Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing apolitical music with Audioslave.
Morello created the identity of the Nightwatchman, inspired by Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad album, [1] when a desire to return to political activism in his music struck him in 2003, after over a year of playing non-activist rock in Audioslave. [2] Morello describes the Nightwatchman as "the black Robin Hood of 21st century music" and "a reaction against illicit wars, a reaction against first strikes, torture, secret prisons, spying illegally on American citizens. It's a reaction against war crimes, and it's a reaction against a few corporations that grow rich [off] this illicit war while people beg for food in the city streets." [3] He later elaborated that the format was inspired by long-time social and political activist/musician Billy Bragg. Morello first saw him performing at a concert c. 1994, playing "fearlessly" before a crowd of 8,000 people in a tent alongside big-name rock bands of the time. [4] The Nightwatchman first began playing political acoustic folk music in a Los Angeles coffeehouse before a small crowd, [3] and soon after went on Billy Bragg's Tell Us the Truth Tour. [2]
"The Nightwatchman is my political folk alter ego. I've been writing these songs and playing them at open mic nights with friends for some time. This is the first time I've toured with it. When I play open mic nights, I'm announced as the Nightwatchman. There will be kids there who are fans of my electric guitar playing, and you see them there scratching their heads."
— Tom Morello
The Tell Us the Truth Tour was supported by unions, environmental and media reform groups including Common Cause, Free Press and A.F.L.-C.I.O. with the ultimate goal of "informing music fans, and exposing and challenging the failures of the major media outlets in the United States." [5] His Nightwatchman persona has been compared to Woody Guthrie, [2] Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. [3] He initially had no plans to record, [6] but later recorded the song "No One Left" for Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 . At the Festival of Bonnaroo in 2007, the Nightwatchman performed Rage Against the Machine song "Guerrilla Radio" to protest George W. Bush.
In February 2007, he announced a solo album, One Man Revolution , which was released on April 24, 2007, in the US and May 7 worldwide. [3] The Nightwatchman's first headlining gig was played June 17, 2007, at the House of Blues in Dallas, Texas. Morello has toured since the CD was released and said he plans to tour the U.S. again in the fall. After seeing an early screening of the Michael Moore film Sicko Morello wrote the song, "Alone Without You" which featured in closing credits of the film and also with a music video directed by Moore in the DVD release. The song was also made available as an iTunes bonus track for One Man Revolution. Morello toured in support of the album as the opening act for Ben Harper During this tour, Morello joined Harper onstage on several occasions for a cover of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War", on which he plays the electric guitar in the style for which he's best known. Other prominent musicians who Morello shared the stage with during the One Man Revolution tour includes, Serj Tankian, Perry Farrell, Jon Foreman from Switchfoot, Shooter Jennings, Nuno Bettencourt, Sen Dog from Cypress Hill, Jill Sobule, Boots Riley, Alexi Murdoch, Wayne Kramer from MC5, Slash and many others.
The album The Fabled City was released on September 30, 2008. Two songs off the record, "Midnight in the City of Destruction" (about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina) and "King of Hell" (written about Guantanamo Bay detention camp), had previously been leaked on the Nightwatchman MySpace or performed during live sets.
"The template is half Dylan and half Hendrix. It's going to be half acoustic and half electric. Not only will there be the no sell-out, acoustic, three chords and the truth part of the show, but also, with the band I put together called the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, there will be more insane electric playing than I've ever done with Rage or Audioslave because it's not confined to a three-and-a-half-minute song"
— Tom Morello [7]
So far The Satellite Party's Carl Restivo has been confirmed to be part of The Freedom Fighters as a second guitarist. [8] To promote the new album Morello and the band appeared both on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and on Late Night with Conan O'Brien before heading out on The Fabled City Tour, an eighteen stop tour in the United States.
To support the many unions affected by the anti-negotiation/bargaining laws due to the 2011 Wisconsin budget protests, Morello performed outside the Madison Capitol building on February 21, 2011, to rousing support. He also teamed up with fellow rock musician Wayne Kramer in support of the protesters performing the title song of his upcoming album, World Wide Rebel Songs . [9] Kramer appears on said song on the album, performing backing vocals.
On the Nightwatchman website, it was announced that Morello has signed with the label New West Records to release his third album as the Nightwatchman, World Wide Rebel Songs, on August 30, 2011. [10] Before the release of the album, Morello released an EP entitled Union Town on May 17, 2011. All proceeds of the EP sales will go to benefit The America Votes Labor Unity Fund. [11] In October 2011 and on May Day 2012, Morello performed in support of the protesters at Occupy LA and Occupy Wall Street.
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||
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US [12] | ||||||||||||
One Man Revolution |
| 119 | ||||||||||
The Fabled City |
| 180 | ||||||||||
Union Town |
| — | ||||||||||
World Wide Rebel Songs |
| — | ||||||||||
"—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region. |
Year | Title |
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2009 | Live at Lime
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Year | Album | Song | Artist(s) | Ref. |
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2007 | One Man Revolution | "The Road I Must Travel" | "Tom Morello" | |
2008 | The Fabled City | "Whatever it Takes" | "Tom Morello" | [13] |
2016 | Battle Sirens | "Battle Sirens" | "Tom Morello, Knife Party" | [14] |
Year | Album | Song(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 | "No One Left" | [15] |
Tell Us the Truth: The Live Concert Recording | "California's Dark" "House Gone Up in Flames" | [16] | |
Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1 | "Until the End" | [17] | |
2007 | Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran | "Battle Hymns" | |
2008 | Sicko soundtrack | "Alone Without You" | [18] |
2011 | Todos Somos Ilegales | "Deportees" | |
2012 | Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International | "Blind Willie McTell" | |
Rage Against the Machine was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk. The band was known for melding heavy metal and rap music with punk rock and funk influences, as well as their left-wing views. As of 2010, they have sold over 16 million records worldwide. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk (drums). Critics first described Audioslave as a combination of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile, it was noted that they had established a separate identity. Their unique sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock and 1990s alternative rock, with musical influences that included 1960s funk, soul and R&B. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, with emphasis on Cornell's wide vocal range and Morello's unconventional guitar solos.
Thomas Baptist Morello is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was also a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Under the moniker the Nightwatchman, Morello released his solo work. Together with Boots Riley, he formed Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK in Los Angeles.
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military-industrial complex, and government oppression.
Bradley Joseph Wilk is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage (2016–2019).
"Killing in the Name" is a song by the American band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It features heavy drop-D guitar riffs and lyrics protesting police brutality inspired by the beating of Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Live in Cuba is the first live DVD from the American rock supergroup Audioslave. Performed in front of an audience of 70,000 people, Live in Cuba is considered an historic event as it marks one of the few times that American musicians were permitted to play in Cuba. Despite the bureaucratic obstacles resulting from the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba, Audioslave received permission to perform in Havana and altered their tour schedule to play a free concert on May 6, 2005. With special approval by U.S. President George W. Bush and Cuban President Fidel Castro, the concert was organized through joint authorization of the United States Department of Treasury and the Cuban Institute of Music. At the time, guitarist Tom Morello declared that Audioslave was the first American rock and roll band to play a concert in Cuba. However, other American musical artists played in Cuba prior to 2005. At the Havana Jam in March 1979, Billy Joel, Stephen Stills, Weather Report, and several other American pop and jazz artists performed at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre. The Fabulous Titans, an American reggae/ska band, performed in Cuba in 1981.
Revelations is the third and final studio album by American rock supergroup Audioslave, released on September 4, 2006 internationally and a day later in the United States through Epic Records and Interscope Records. Chris Cornell quit the band in February 2007 and the remaining members disbanded Audioslave rather than looking for a new vocalist since they were busy with a reunion of Rage Against the Machine.
"The Ghost of Tom Joad" is a folk rock song written by Bruce Springsteen. It is the title track to his eleventh studio album, released in 1995. The character Tom Joad, from John Steinbeck's classic 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, is mentioned in the title and narrative.
Carl Restivo is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He has toured with Rihanna, Tom Morello's Freedom Fighter Orchestra supporting The Nightwatchman, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party, and Street Sweeper Social Club, who toured with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.
The Rage Against the Machine reunion tour was a concert tour by American rock band Rage Against the Machine that took place from 2007 to 2011. It was the first tour for the band since they broke up in 2000. This tour saw Rage Against the Machine performing live worldwide sporadically for four years, with the exception of 2009, before going back on hiatus; the band would not tour again until 2022.
The Fabled City is the second studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on September 30, 2008.
This is the discography of Tom Morello, an American rock guitarist who is known for his work with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club and as his folk alter-ego The Nightwatchman. Morello started playing guitar in the mid 80's in the band Electric Sheep together with future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass. After graduating cum laude from Harvard University in 1986 with a BA in political science, he moved to Los Angeles, where he briefly worked as an aide to Senator Alan Cranston. Later Adam Jones moved to L.A. as well; Morello introduced Jones and Maynard James Keenan to Danny Carey, who would come to form the band Tool. In the late 80's Morello was recruited to replace original guitar player Mike Livingston in the rock band Lock Up. In 1989 the band released its only album Something Bitchin' This Way Comes. In 1991, Morello left Lock Up to start a new band. After being impressed by Zack de la Rocha freestyle rapping, he invited him to join. He also recruited Brad Wilk, who had previously auditioned as a drummer for Lock Up. Zack convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to join as the band's bass player.
Townes is the 13th studio album by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released in 2009. It is an album on which he pays tribute to his friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt by covering his songs. According to a New West Records press release, "The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to. Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career and others he had to learn specifically for recording.
Street Sweeper Social Club is an American rap rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist and emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band had been testing songs out during Tom Morello's Nightwatchman tour and released an album on June 16, 2009. Stanton Moore drummed for the group for the recording of the album although he did not join the band for the following tour. Street Sweeper Social Club opened for Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction in May 2009. Street Sweeper Social Club describes itself as "more than a band, it's a social club." Their 2010 EP The Ghetto Blaster EP includes covers of M.I.A. "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".
Street Sweeper Social Club is the debut self-titled album by American rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club, composed of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and rapper/emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The album was released by Warner Music Group on June 16, 2009.
World Wide Rebel Songs is the third full-length studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on August 29, 2011, through Morello's new label New West Records, and like his previous release Union Town, was self-produced.
"Death to My Hometown" is a song written and recorded by American musician Bruce Springsteen and was the third single from his album, Wrecking Ball. It is a protest song, as well as a prominent example of Springsteen's experimentation with Celtic rock rhythms.
The High Hopes Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with special guest guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. The tour was seen as a continuation of his previous tour and was in support of eighteenth studio album, High Hopes, which was released in January 2014.
Prophets of Rage was an American rap rock supergroup. Formed in 2016, the group consisted of three members of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two members of Public Enemy, and rapper B-Real of Cypress Hill. The band disbanded in 2019, following the reuniting of Rage Against the Machine. During its three-year existence, Prophets of Rage released one EP and one full-length studio album.