Rusted Root, a band that fuses acoustic music, rock & roll and world music along with African and Latin rhythms will bring their unique sound to Tussey Mountain Amphitheater next week.
Formed in Pittsburgh in 1990, the group, led by lead vocalist and guitarist Michael Glabicki, released their major-label debut in 1994 with the album When I Woke. The album went platinum and produced the hit Send Me On My Way which broke the Billboard Top 100 and continues to be used in Motion Pictures and National TV commercials.
I recently spoke with Glabicki about the beginnings of the band, the differences in the music industry today and what we can expect from their visit to Centre County next week.
DB: So many bands are defined by where they are from. Being from Pittsburgh, a blue collar, rust belt town, what was it like forming a band with more of a “World Music” feel to it?
MG: In high school, I was pretty politically active and went right after high school to Nicaragua and witnessed the revolution and the war that was happening there. But, at the same time, there was such a vibrancy to the arts and poetry, and music was at every street corner. Just being around it and feeling how good that felt as a 17-year-old, I wanted to come back to where I lived and live that way and create that. And Rusted Root was the way to do it. So, I dropped out of college my first semester and got started on auditioning people. I had been writing for...a couple years and knew at that point I was just going to... start a band and go for it. At the same time, I had cousins that were doing some African drumming. Peter Gabriel had just come out with So. It was on the cusp of people using African percussion or Latin percussion in a lot of the music. So, I just did what felt right to me. I didn’t necessarily know exactly what I was doing ... but I knew the feeling of what it felt like and tried to do it the best I could.
DB: What else was going on musically in Pittsburgh at that time? Was it a challenge to get gigs because you had such a different style of music?
MG: Well, we did a battle of the Rock Bands and I think we came in third. From that point on, we were able to book shows and have people attend. People were really into it. We never had a hard time getting started. Once we were out there, people latched on to it pretty quickly. Then, we just circled out from Pittsburgh and kept building our following. But, as far as the music that was around here (in Pittsburgh), it was probably more pop music and a lot of blues and rock, but nothing like us. It was interesting that people didn’t think twice about it. They just accepted us and liked the band so, it wasn’t hard.
DB: Talk about how dramatically things have changed to get your music out to the masses from the early days of the band and sending out cassette tapes to record companies to get noticed to today where Rusted Root even has an iPhone app.
MG: It’s incredibly different. The times have changed nearly completely. Back when we got started, you jumped in a couple cars and went and played and you just kept playing until you got through to people. That was special because there weren’t as many bands out there doing it. The numbers of bands out now are just tremendous because it’s so easy to make a record and put it up on iTunes. I think the work ethic was a lot different back then to actually work up the money to make a record and go out in a couple vehicles and tour was way out of the norm. But, that’s what you needed to do back then in order to get noticed. And we’d do all kinds of crazy gigs ... anything that we could get. But nowadays, people just make a record on ProTools and flood the internet with it. And, it’s also now how the audience has learned to go out and look for music. So, it’s kind of shifted out of this old work ethic which is a shame because it was a really great time and a lot of creativity came out of that work ethic. Not to say that there isn’t as good of music out there. It’s just flooded with all kinds of people that aren’t necessarily sure that they want to make music, but ‘Hey, I'll give it a shot,’ you know?
DB: You mentioned that the audience has learned a new way to search for the music. Currently, your song Send Me On My Way is being used in a national Enterprise Rent-A-Car TV commercial. Has that helped to gain a new audience since a lot of people watch TV while they're on their laptop computer these days?
MG: It's almost like the commercials have taken part of the role of what radio stations used to do. Now if you get a song in a commercial, it’s like you’ve got a hit on the radio. (laughs) It’s really weird to me, but just witnessing it and having our song in a commercial and having the excitement come at me, I was like ‘Really? That’s odd.’ But it’s where we’re at now, so I just kind of accept it and giggle at it a little bit. But we’ve gotten such a big response from having the song in the commercial.
DB: I see that you have a live recording of a recent show in Norfok, CT available on your Web site. Is that something new that you’re doing?
MG: Yeah, we’re starting to put out live shows. We’re just recording complete shows and documenting them and putting them out online. There are going to be some more coming out. We’re kind of testing the water a little bit with it and seeing how much we want to invest in the recording of the shows and what people are willing to purchase.
DB: Do you find that being in the ‘jam band’ category the people, like they used to do with The Grateful Dead, are looking for individual shows so they can compare notes on individual shows? Is that where that came out of?
MG: Yeah, I think that’s where it comes out of, but we really don’t have that kind of following. We do a little bit, but we’ve never really fit wholly into any category. So, I don’t think we’re going to get a great response from the jam band scene with people really collecting our shows like they did (with) The Grateful Dead to hear different guitar solos or whatever. Although we do a little bit of that during our show, there’s not the 20-minute-long jams going on. There’s improvisation and soloing happening, but it’s more the band moving together into different places than actually getting a great guitar solo or whatever. It doesn’t quite fit into that, but a lot of our fans will purchase the live shows just to hear them and reconnect.
DB: Is a new studio album in the works?
MG: Yeah, I'm working on a new Rusted Root record. When people pick up the live recording, they are looking to hear the new songs too so I think that’s part of what people are doing. We have about three or four new songs in the set right now and we’re working on more now. We kind of develop our music on the road and try to write and arrange in front of an audience so we know where we’re at.
DB: What can people expect next week at Tussey Mountain?
MG: It’s going to be Rusted Root at its best, really. Those are the comments that we’ve been getting that the show is better than it’s ever been ... a lot more energy and different landscapes that we go into. Now, with Stereo Rodeo out and the new music coming out, it’s a great time to see us!
Rusted Root performs at the Tussey Mountain Amphitheater stage on Friday night, June 3. The show begins at 7 p.m. Opening the show will be Table Ten, a group that performs regularly in Downtown State College.