“He made the guitar cry. It has the same spirit and the same soul that a human voice has”: Breakout TikTok guitarist Towa Bird channels her hero Jimi Hendrix with The Star-Spangled Banner performance ahead of 2024 MLS All-Star Game

Breakout TikTok guitarist Towa Bird made a special appearance at the Major League Soccer All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, to perform a guitar-fueled take on The Star-Spangled Banner.

In a video posted on Towa Bird’s social media, the announcer can be heard saying, “And now please welcome recording artist Towa Bird as she performs the national anthem of the United States of America.”

Bird then launches into the anthem, putting her own overdriven spin on it, with hints of Jimi Hendrix’s historic feedback-drenched rendition at Woodstock.

For this special occasion, Bird wielded her trusty Gibson Firebird, one of her go-to guitars. In an interview with Guitar World, she voiced her preference for guitars with “interesting-looking bodies and things that people don’t see around”.

“That’s why I have the Firebird. It feels like a nice, solid rockstar guitar. It feels interesting and it looks cool with the gold hardware and the interesting green color. It plays great and I have access to all of the 24 frets.”

When speaking about her classic rock-inspired guitar-playing style, Bird said, “I can’t really think of any current guitar heroes that I have. All of my guitar heroes are either into their seventies or no longer with us. That’s how I fell in love with music – listening to Hendrix and Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and The Who.”

“The way he [Hendrix] sang through the guitar and made the guitar into another human voice was the thing that stood out, like he was the lead singer – but the guitar was also the lead singer,” she stated in a Guitar World tribute to the enduring influence of guitar icon.

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“I thought that was so rare and unique. The melodies, riffs and licks he chose felt so human, and he made the guitar cry. It has the same spirit and the same soul that a human voice has.”

Towa Bird’s debut album American Hero was released in June via Interscope. She is gearing up for her (American) Hero Complex Tour, which kicks off on September 24 in Santa Ana, California.

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