Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Liz Berlin, Jim DiSpirito
All Music Guide:
Multi-instrumentalist group Rusted Root integrate the Grateful Dead's jam-heavy rock with percussion influences based on the music of Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The six-piece formed in Pittsburgh in 1990 with Michael Glabicki (vocals, guitar), Liz Berlin (vocals, percussion), Patrick Norman (bass, vocals), and Jim Donovan (drums, percussion) as the initial lineup, though John Buynak (percussion, winds) and Jim DiSpirito (percussion) joined later that year. In 1992, Rusted Root released its debut independent album Cruel Sun. However, it was the band's 1994 sophomore album, When I Woke, that garnered the band national attention. With support from college radio and a good buzz from the band's entrancing live show, When I Woke became quite successful in alternative circles during 1995-1996, especially with singles such as "Send Me on My Way" and "Ecstasy." In mid-1996, Rusted Root released the Evil Ways EP, a compilation of live tracks with the band's contributions to the movies Twister and Home for the Holidays. The group's second album, Remember, followed in October. Produced by Jerry Harrison, it reached the Top 40 in its first week of release. A self-titled LP followed in 1998. After some time off, Rusted Root returned with Welcome to My Party in 2002 before leaving the world of major labels behind and releasing the 2004 album Rusted Root Live on their own indie imprint, Touchy Pegg. Breaking the seven-year wait for a new studio album, Stereo Rodeo landed in 2009.
Wikipedia:
Rusted Root is a band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania known for their unique fusion of acoustic, rock, world and other styles of music, with a strong percussion section that draws from African, Latin American, Native American, and Indian influences. Rusted Root has sold more than three million albums worldwide.
History
Rusted Root formed in 1990 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and made its indie record debut in 1992 with Cruel Sun, which was re-released in 2002. The group's major-label debut album was 1994's When I Woke, a hit on college radio and a platinum record. The album hit the top 40 in early 1995, peaking at No. 33. Along with their live shows, Rusted Root began working on contributions to the movies Matilda, Twister and Home for the Holidays. Their next studio album was Remember (1996), followed by Rusted Root (1998) and Welcome to My Party (2002). Welcome to My Party was criticized by fans, who are affectionately known as Rootheads. The album was an attempt on the band's part to experiment with different types of popular music at the time, but was not as well-received as previous albums by fans. Remember reached the Top 40 in the US, while Rusted Root found its sales buoyed by the use of the band's cover of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on an episode of Ally McBeal. A live double album followed in 2004. Rusted Root's greatest hits album was released in April 2005 as part of Universal Music's 20th Century Masters series. The band has released three EPs, Evil Ways, Airplane, and Live, which came packaged with a documentary video cassette.
Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way", which hit No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995, is its most commercially popular song. It was used on the soundtracks of Matilda; Ice Age; Pie in the Sky; Race the Sun; YTV Canada's Are We There Yet?: World Adventure; and the Boy Scouts of America, Order of the Arrow Philmont Trail Crew promotional video that was released in the late 1990s. Parts of the song have also been used on the television shows Party of Five, Homicide, Chuck, New Girl and in a 2011 Enterprise Rent-A-Car commercial.
Rusted Root released Stereo Rodeo, their first studio album in seven years, on May 5, 2009. In the summer of 2011, Rusted Root began to add four new songs to their setlist, all soon to appear on their next studio album. These songs include "Fortunate Freaks", "Sun and Magic", "Monkey Pants", and one dated yet unreleased track, "Cover Me Up". Glabicki has been quoted saying that he and the band are looking to move in a direction similar to Talking Heads.
Rusted Root has over 40 tracks that only exist on rare bootlegs recorded between the years of 1991 and 1995. Many of the early 1990's bootlegs were recorded at venues in Pittsburgh including The Artery and The Birmingham Loft. In addition to the live-recorded bootleg tapes, Rusted Root released two self-titled, 4-song recordings available only on cassette. These were sold by the band at the merchandise table at their shows. The first was released in 1990 (recorded at Alphastar Studios, McKeesport, PA) and includes their well-known song "Ecstacy", plus "Come Down", "My Son", and "Prophet". Original copies of the tape includes the 4 tracks on both sides of the cassette and is packaged with cover art by "Mike Glabicki". The second was released in 1992 (recorded at Audiomation Studios) and includes the songs "Martyr", "Artificial Winter", "Cruel Sun" and "Laugh As the Sun".
The band's front-man Michael Glabicki is known for his unique guitar playing; often involving the use of Tremolo picking and Acoustic-electric guitar amplification. Some of his on stage guitar choices include: Larrivée, Martin, and Guild.
