Rusted Root returns with new tunes

Rusted Root March 1, 8:30 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theater 400 Lincoln Ave. Millvale $25

It was a visit to Nicaragua in 1998 that sparked the formation of Pittsburgh band Rusted Root. In preparation for the release of its first studio album since 2002, Rusted Root will play a “Special Hometown Show” this Saturday at Mr. Smalls – a long way from the South American conflict that inspired the band’s creation.

“I witnessed the situation with the Contras [a guerilla group attacking the Nicaraguan government],” said Michael Glabicki, the band’s lead vocals and guitar. “I got really bummed out about it.”

But beyond the conflict, Southern Nicaragua amazed him.

“Every night people would still come out to the streets, making music, reading poetry and such,” he said. “There was a big depression that needed to be worked out,” Glabicki added about returning to Pittsburgh, and he decided to form a band.

What Glabicki had in mind was pretty specific.

“Everybody knew it was about percussion,” Glabicki said. He had been listening to African percussion, trying different tunes out on the guitar. “I liked the feeling and power I got out of what was happening,” he said. He listened to Peter Gabriel and to Paul Simon to incorporate world percussion into his work. Glabicki listened and took it all in as he settled on a focus for his band.

“I knew I wanted to do something different than that,” Glabicki said.

Rusted Root’s signature sound stems from an open-minded approach to its own evolution. Full of layered compositions that encompass a wide range of styles and sounds, people have defined Rusted Root as roots music, jam rock and dance percussion. Its website describes the group as “poly-rhythmic multi-culti rock and soul,” which comes closer than any one phrase or genre distinction can. It is a losing battle, however, to attempt to sum up the sound of a group whose music spans 20 years and miles of sound.

With the release of their first album, Cruel Sun, Rusted Root’s sextet consisted of band members Glabicki, Jenn Wertz, Liz Berlin, Jim Donovan, Patrick Norman and John Buynak. The members’ work ethic, inherited from Pittsburgh’s mill-town heritage and from their own families, made magic in rehearsal.

“We essentially got into a room and played until our fingers bled and the sound was right,” Glabicki said. Looking back, Glabicki appreciates the work ethic that made the band’s success plausible. “Going through that was a real journey. We got it to the point in that room [rehearsal room] when you knew you had something and you knew it was undeniable.”

Now releasing its sixth album, the band’s parameters have shifted to include three new touring members, Jason Miller, Colter Harper and Dirk Miller, while retaining Glabicki, Berlin and Norman.

Maintaining the consistency and energy of Rusted Root isn’t a challenge, Glabicki said.

“I think it just magically comes together,” he said. “I see it as a geometric shape. Everybody has their spot on the diagram and everyone knows how to intuitively play their role, but the shape is always there, it always exists.”

Unlike many other bands, finding the point at which all members coalesce is not the end-all-be-all for Rusted Root. It’s just the beginning. After working together in the studio, the band takes it to audiences.

“It’s what we do best,” Glabicki said about playing live. The audiences help to shape the band’s approach. “Something happens in the music, and you can see them react. Either emotionally or in their bodies, in the way they move,” Glabicki said. “That connection helps direct me to how I can improve a song. But the audience gives back energy. And sometimes we let the song sit in between the both of us [the band and the audience] and let the song become its own thing.”

The new album is a triumph for Rusted Root.

“The music has really busted out of some of the shells we were in. I think we’re a lot stronger and able to flex more. To make music that’s undeniable,” he paused, “orgasmic.”

“It’s really about bringing our minds together in the music and exploring. We find out what we can and put all the gemstones together.”

The interconnection that Rusted Root values musically translates to its larger belief about music.

“It’s ritualistic, it transcends boundaries. Even if you don’t understand the language, music has a secondary meaning of rhythms and tones that, put together a certain way, makes sense,” Glabicki said.

The makers of great music, Rusted Root has even greater soul, even when they’re not playing it.