Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello has gifted 10-year-old rocker Nandi Bushell with his new signature Fender Soul Power Stratocaster guitar.
Bushell, who posts videos of herself playing drums along to modern rock hits, killed it a few weeks back with a video of her playing guitar, bass and drums on Rage's “Guerrilla Radio.” The young musician dedicated the clip to Black Lives Matter and the fight to end racism.
Morello shared the performance on Twitter, writing, “Well now we are on the right track.” He then surprised her at her home in the U.K. this week with a video message and the guitar.
The guitarist told us that his own childhood influenced his decision to become politically active: “I grew up in a very conservative town in Illinois, and the politics of my household were in stark contrast to the politics of the community around me. That, and also being one of the only black kids in an all-white community is very politicizing. You know, ever since then my twin passions have been playing guitar and political activism. So I try to find, you know, ways to affect the world around me in a way that at the end of the day I can look at myself in the mirror.”
Morello said in the message, “Hey Nandi, I’d like you to have this guitar as a gift from me to you because you rock so great, and to see someone rocking so great who is so young, it really gives me hope for the future.”
The little girl was clearly stunned by the gesture, picking up the guitar and exclaiming, “Thank you so, so, so, so much, Tom Morello, for this beautiful guitar — I can’t wait to jam with you! Thank you so, so, much!”