August 21, 2014

The Greenville Journal, Cindy Landrum - August 21, 2014

Connection with audience still key for band 25 years later

For Rusted Root frontman Michael Glabicki, being on stage is just as thrilling today as it was during the band's first concert nearly a quarter of a century ago. 

"Memory loss makes every night seem like our first gig," Glabicki said. "No, seriously, we just try to live in the moment. It's been nearly 25 years, but every night we're still excited to see where it goes."

The group, which formed in Pittsburgh in 1990, is best known for the single "Send Me on My Way," a Top 40 hit that was featured in the 1996 film "Matilda," the 2002 Oscar-nominated comedy "Ice Age," and several television shows and ad campaigns.

Rusted Root is promoting "The Movement," a 2012 album that was fan-funded, on its current tour that will make a stop at the Peace Center's TD Amphitheatre on Aug. 29. Glabicki calls it a "career record."

"It's a culmination of everything we have learned, or tried to learn, over our entire career," he said. 

The Greenville concert will feature three songs from "The Movement," some of the band's old stuff and four or five songs off a new album, the band's eighth studio recording, that is expected to be released next spring or summer during the band's 25th year. 

Glabicki said each show is unique because of the audience. 

"The audience is communicating with us all the time in everything we do," he said. "The music is set up to invite and we use the energy of the audience. When you can tune into the audience, you walk into a new world."

WHO ARE THEY?

Rusted Root is best 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 and Native American influences. 

BIGGEST HIT

"Send Me on My Way," a song that appeared in the soundtracks for the 1996 movie "Matilda" and the 2002 animated comedy "Ice Age."

WHERE TO HEAR THEM:

Where: Peace Center's Summer Concert Series, TD Stage

When: Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: Lawn, $25; Genevieve's, $35

Info: peacecenter.org or 864.467.3000