TOM MORELLO’S WORLD WIDE REBEL TOUR DOCUMENTARY SPANS 42 COUNTRIES AND IS AVAILABLE IN 30 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
aaamusic | On 01, May 2012
TOM MORELLO’S WORLD WIDE REBEL TOUR DOCUMENTARY
SPANS 42 COUNTRIES AND IS AVAILABLE IN 30 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
42 UNIQUE, COUNTRY-SPECIFIC FILMS LAUNCH FOR FREE, WORLD WIDE ON MAY DAY, TUESDAY MAY 1st
MORELLO TO RECEIVE THE 2012 OFFICERS’ AWARD FROM THE SIDNEY HILLMAN FOUNDATION ON TUESDAY, MAY 1st
AND WILL LEAD THE OCCUPY WALL STREET OCCUPY GUITARMY FOR A MAY DAY MUSIC MARCH & RALLY
ALSO SET TO PERFORM ON “LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON” TONIGHT WITH BEN HARPER AND THE ROOTS
Today On May Day, Tuesday, May 1st (International Worker’s Day), Tom Morello will launch his World Wide Rebel Tour documentary with 42 unique, customized versions in 30 different languages for free, worldwide. The 30-minute documentary was directed by Bobby Roth (TV’s Lost, Prison Break,The Mentalist) and was filmed at Henson Studios in Los Angeles in August of 2011. The film features a Q&A with Morello, mixed with live performances of “Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine,” “Save The Hammer For The Man,” “It Begins Tonight,” and “World Wide Rebel Songs,” all selections featured on his acclaimed 2011 The Nightwatchman album World Wide Rebel Songs. The documentary will be available to stream or download for free in its entirety on May 1st via the website worldwiderebeltour.com.
Morello created 42 country-specific versions of the World Wide Rebel Tour documentary. Each version features an interviewer asking Tom questions in their native language (including one question unique to that country that is only available on that version). All of Morello’s responses are subtitled in the native language and the some of the Q&A’s are conducted by familiar faces such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down (Armenia), Sen Dog of Cypress Hill (Cuba), Thomas Gobena of Gogol Bordello (Ethiopia), Nuno Bettencourt (Portugal), as well as Kenyan Ambassadors and Dignitaries (For Kenya), and many more. The full list of country-specific versions of the World Wide Rebel Tourcurrently available is as follows: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Holland, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mexico, Myanmar, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tibet, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan.
About the project, Morello stated “The World Wide Rebel Tour is a virtual tour spanning the entire planet. No one has ever toured 42 countries in one day. Until now. From Malawi to Myanmar, from Uzbekistan to the U.S.A., people’s voices and struggles have made their way into my music. On May 1st, I’m returning the favor with this global rebel rocking throwdown. Free. Everywhere. May Day.” He continued, “What is the World Wide Rebel Tour? Remember that old Coca-Cola commercial? ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…?’ It’s like THAT…but with class warfare.”
At 12pm (NYT) On May Day, Tuesday, May 1st, Morello will arrive at Bryant Park in NYC to help enlist thousands of guitarists, string players, and singers to take part in the Occupy Guitarmy. After a rehearsal of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” Sergio Ortega’s “El Pueblo Unido,” Willie Nile’s “One Guitar,” Morello’s “World Wide Rebel Songs,” and the traditional spiritual “We Shall Not Be Moved,” the Occupy Guitarmy will depart from Bryant Park at 2pm, march through midtown Manhattan and arrive at Union Square at 4pm, culminating in their performance on stage with Morello. Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, JD Samson & Men, Bobby Sanabria and other special guests yet to be announced will take the stage after Morello’s set. Morello offered, “On May 1st, I’ll be in the streets of New York City joining the Million Guitar March ‘Guitarmy’ with Occupy Wall Street. Simultaneously, The Nightwatchman’s World Wide Rebel Tour will be unleashed on an unsuspecting planet. It’s time to choose sides people. Are you in or are you out?” For more information on the Occupy Guitarmy, please visit:occupyguitarmy.tumblr.com
Later that evening, Morello will receive a special public service award at the annual 2012 Hillman Prizes ceremony at the TimesCenter. The Board of Directors of the Sidney Hillman Foundation will be honoring Morello with the Officers’ Award for his advocacy for and support of working people across the world. Morello will receive the award at the ceremony and reception to honor this year’s Hillman Prize-winners for excellence in journalism in service of the common good. Previous Officers’ Awards have gone to such figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Harry Belafonte, and others.
This evening, Morello can be seen performing his song “Save The Hammer For The Man,” with Ben Harper and The Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35am/11:35pm Central). The duet with Ben Harper is the new single from his album World Wide Rebel Songs, which was named as one of the “Top 50 Best Albums of the Year” in 2011 from Rolling Stone magazine.
Tom Morello is an original member of the rock bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, two artists responsible for multiple Grammy Awards and a combined 30 million albums sold worldwide. Morello has also been recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time (#26).”
Morello graduated from Harvard University with honors as a Political Science major and has been a widely recognized political activist throughout his career. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award. In 2011 he was named The Nation Magazine’s “Musician of the Year,” received the 2011 Worker’s Voice Award, a 2011 Reed Award, and an MTV “O” Award for “Best Occupy Wall Street Performance.” His 2011 album World Wide Rebel Songs was released on the heals of his benefit EP Union Town, which saw all profits benefitting The America Votes Labor Unity Fund via SaveWorkers.org and consists of 8 pro-union songs. Extremely active in the Occupy Movement, Morello performed at Occupy Wall Street and also made appearances at Occupy sites in London, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco, distributing free tickets to his performances. He is also featured on Wrecking Ball, the 2012 studio album from Bruce Springsteen.
Morello’s family has been a constant source of political and social inspiration as his great-uncle, Jomo Kenyatta, was the first President of Kenya, and his mother, Mary Morello, founded Parents for Rock and Rap, an anti-censorship counterweight to Tipper Gore’s PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). With System of A Down’s Serj Tankian, Morello formed Axis of Justice, an organization whose purpose is to bring together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.
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