Nandi Bushell Dedicates Cover Of Rush's 'Tom Sawyer' To 'Professor Peart'

It looks like Nandi Bushell's New Year's Resolution was to take her "playing to the next level," and if that's the case she's off to a good start. The 11-year-old prodigy shared her first drum cover of 2022 over the weekend, and it's an extremely difficult song: Rush's "Tom Sawyer."

Nandi dedicated the song to the band's late, great drummer Neil Peart, whose nickname was The Professor.

"This one is for you Professor Peart. I wanted to try a @rush song that would really challenge me," she wrote in the video's YouTube description. "I watched an interview were the Professor said Tom Sawyer 'remains so difficult to play'. So I thought I would give it a try. It's actually really fun to play. I really hope I have done the song justice, Professor Pearts' playing is incredible. I hope I got the strength and smoothness balance right. I have a new found love for RUSH now too!"

Watch Nandi absolutely rock out to "Tom Sawyer" above.

Nandi truly had an exciting year in 2021. In addition to uploading impressive covers, she was named Cartoon Network's first ever Musician in Residence, performed live with the Foo Fighters, jammed with Queen drummer Roger Taylor (whom she also beat in a drum battle), and released an original song called "The Children Will Rise Up" with Tom Morello and his son Roman, which was co-signed by former president Barack Obama. We can't wait to see what 2022 brings for the budding star.