NEPA Scene Staff

Pittsburgh jam band Rusted Root returns to Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Dec. 30

Pittsburgh jam band Rusted Root returns to Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Dec. 30
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From a press release:

Pittsburgh jam band Rusted Root, who played at the Peach Music Festival in Scranton last year, will return to the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. with special guest Albert Savage.

Tickets, which are $20 in advance or $22 the day of the show, are on sale now and available through the Sherman Theater box office (524 Main St., Stroudsburg), online at shermantheater.com and ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets. VIP boxes and sky boxes are available for this show and include eight tickets (VIP box) or 12 tickets (sky box), a fruit and cheese platter, and waitstaff. To purchase box seats, call the theater at 570-420-2808.

Having collaborated with one another for over two decades, Rusted Root has honed the perfect combination of musical intuition, freedom, and virtuosity, which has allowed them to organically shape shift their music into their own distinct and undeniable vision. With eight albums under their belt, over three million records sold worldwide, and countless nights on the road, Rusted Root transcends age, generations, cultures, and musical styles. Their music has been featured in films like “Ice Age,” “Twister,” and “Matilda,” TV shows like “New Girl,” “Ally McBeal,” “Charmed,” and “Chuck,” as well as commercials.

Bassist and vocalist Patrick Norman says, “From the very first time we played music together, I knew we had something special. The music and the enjoyment of creating and playing with one another I feel is the driving force behind this band.”

The powerhouse ensemble’s sweat-inducing and hypnotic live performances have allowed them to tour alongside everyone from Santana to Dave Matthews Band to The Allman Brothers Band to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page’s reunion tour, and countless others. Rusted Root’s latest album, 2012’s “The Movement,” is an energized and poetic collection of originals that capture the Pittsburgh-based unit at their best.

“‘The Movement’ is an extremely joyous recording with seriously deep undertones. It is a culmination of everything we have learned, or have tried to learn, over our entire career. It truly is a career record for us,” founder, frontman, songwriter, singer, and guitarist Michael Glabicki says.

“’The Movement’ means a new work ethic to me – it’s going from the industrial age to the individual spiritual age. I feel everyone should devote all their actions to all that is love, healing, and pragmatic. We’re seeing the growing pains of this right now… The world is split. … Some people are fearful and fighting it with all their might. … Rusted Root is trying to help with this. … This is our movement!”

“The Movement” is a tribute to Rusted Root’s fans. “The title itself is a testament to the community surrounding our music,” says vocalist and percussionist Liz Berlin. Rusted Root created the “Fortunate Freaks Unite! We Are Rusted Root” campaign, a fan-funding campaign where fans contributed to the making of the album while receiving some cool opportunities with the band. Glabicki adds, “Rusted Root is a state of mind shared and explored by many people – we are a community that supports one another.”

Berlin explains that the members of Rusted Root are drawn to and have explored virtually every form of music. “I am very inspired vocally by anything from Indian to African to Middle Eastern sounds and scales, having grown up with a lot of Hebrew music,” she says. Michael Glabicki’s cites the Bee Gees, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Tony Childs, Black Keys, Black Sabbath, and various Afro pop music as among his influences.

Rusted Root continues to solidify their place as one of the most versatile and innovative bands on the creative music scene.

“I was in my first semester of college. I had just returned from a trip to the war-torn country of Nicaragua and had come back very depressed. It was the physical type of depression where, at times, I couldn’t move my arms. … I remember after one of those spells I picked up the guitar and wrote a song,” recalls Glabicki. “I can remember feeling like I had lifted out of my dead body, and I could move so freely. Shortly after that night, I dropped out of college to start a band, my first real band – Rusted Root.”

It was the early ’90s and it wasn’t long before Rusted Root garnered a rabid fan base with their unique blend of roots music and world rock. Although they have toured the world, the city of Pittsburgh still pulses through their veins. Norman explains, “Living in our hometown helps keep us grounded and focused.” Berlin adds, “Pittsburgh means so much to us as a band. The city, the people, the community are the womb where Rusted Root gestated, birthed, and has thrived all these years. It is the home we can always come back to.” Glabicki continues, “Pittsburgh is home. It’s family. It is our protection. It’s the perfect place to create something original. Pittsburgh is full of working class heroes.”

In 1992, Rusted Root released “Cruel Sun” independently and, two years later, while signed to Mercury, they released their platinum-selling breakthrough, “When I Woke,” which spawned the Top 40 hit “Send Me on My Way” that went on to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100. In 2004, the band released the double album “Rusted Root Live” on their own Touchy Pegg label, following the re-release of the newly re-mastered “Cruel Sun” in 2003. Rusted Root continued to tour relentlessly between the release of “Cruel Sun” and the 2009 album “Stereo Rodeo.”

Berlin says, “When we first got together as a band, there was a groundswell of community, love, and support that has taken us on a movement through our lives and together as a band. This movement has never stopped all these years!” Glabicki concludes, “I hope this music will help to lighten people’s load and elevate them! … Our goal is to create a ritual with the fans, something that is truly healing.”