Rusted Root singer offers memory of Cleveland visit

By John Benson

For well over a decade, the local music showcase Undercurrents boasted being a unique opportunity for unknown bands to perform in front of major label A&R representatives, whose job it is to find new talent.

Though the popular event didn’t open the door for a Cleveland band to find major-label stardom, one group that did go on to national fame was Rusted Root. Signed to a record deal after its 1992 Undercurrents show, the Pittsburgh-based band’s 1994 platinum-selling major-label debut “When I Woke” contained the popular radio hit “Send Me on My Way.”

In talking to Rusted Root singer-visionary Michael Glabicki about his memories of Cleveland, one would assume getting a record deal would come to mind. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“I remember playing Gund Arena in 1995 opening for Page/Plant on the ‘No Quarter Tour,’” said Glabicki, calling from Pittsburgh. “I came there about 15 minutes before we had to be on stage. I was late, but I showed up with my Page/Plant laminate, and the security guard says, ‘No, that’s not real. Go away.’ I said, ‘Seriously, I’m the opener.’ And he said, ‘Get the [expletive] out of here.’

“So I ran around the Gund Arena like three times – and I was really exhausted by the time I got on stage – looking in the glass doors for someone I knew. Finally I saw the wife of our percussionist, who got me in.”

Since that harrowing experience, Glabicki said Cleveland has always been receptive to the band, as well as his solo career. Up next for the keen songwriter with a hippie vibe is a new Rusted Root project, which acts as the follow-up to 2002’s “Welcome to My Party.”

Currently titled “Stereo Rodeo” and due out in February, the next album finds the group further refining its roots rock/jam-band sound with new tracks such as the midtempo “Weary Bones,” the upbeat “Dance in the Middle” and a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds.” Glabicki said fans can expect to hear the album in its entirety at the band’s upcoming New Year’s Eve show Wednesday at the House of Blues.

“It’s the same kind of high-energy stuff we’re known for with a little bit more intimate vocals thrown in there allowing the dynamic to fall very quiet at times,” Glabicki said. “I think we always had to push it a little bit with our vocals, and after doing solo shows I’ve found this world underneath Rusted Root that we never got to. There’s this intimacy with the vocals and dynamic of the music.”

Though serious jam band fans respect the Steel City outfit for its vibrant source of roots-based music, in some circles Rusted Root may be viewed in the same way as, say, Blues Traveler, a Where Are They Now? or one-hit wonder act defined by their mid-’90s success. With that in mind, does Glabicki have any regrets?

“I think I like our career,” Glabicki laughed. “That sounds stupid, but I like the way we’re doing it because it’s not driven by radio or numbers. It’s more driven by the heart of our fans and our hearts, and the way we’re doing this allows for that to happen. Whereas if you start to play the game, you start to get wrapped up in these cycles, and you lose that. So it’s hard. I can even say I’ve experienced it firsthand by the success of ‘Send Me on My Way,’ and just the whirlwind of it. It’s like that’s one way to do it, but I’m glad with what we’re doing now.

“If we had another platinum record, that would be awesome, but it’s not really about the numbers. I think there’s a spiritual aspect to our music and to our live shows, and that’s something that I really try to concentrate on bringing to the shows. It doesn’t matter if there are 12 or 1,000 people, it’s all as powerful, and that’s what really counts.”