Rusted Root April 4, 2009

Multi-instrumentalist group Rusted Root integrates 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. Their indie record dubut in 1992, Cruel Sun, was followed by their major-label debut album When I Woke in 1994, which went platinum.
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 also contributed to numerous film and TV soundtrack credits including Matilda, Party of Five, Homicide, and Ice Age. Rusted Root’s second album, Remember, followed in October and reached the Top 40 in its first week of release. A self-titled album was released in 1998, followed by Welcome to My Party in 2002. Their latest work includes a live double album in 2004 and a greatest hits album in 2005. Rusted Root tours hard with their polyrhythmic multicultural rock and soul sound, picking up devotees like a junkyard magnet as they swept across the nation.