Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root with Dirk Miller will be at the UB Center for the Arts Drama Theatre on Saturday. Rusted Root is a band that Western New York music fans are familiar with; the group was a ubiquitous part of the summer concert scene for decades.
Glabicki is the de facto leader of Rusted Root, and Miller has been part of the touring band for more than a decade. The billing of Glabicki as “of Rusted Root” as opposed to “formerly of Rusted Root” begs the question, what is the status of Rusted Root as a band?
The last time the full band performed in Buffalo was at The Iron Works on Dec. 31, 2016. They performed at the Rochester Lilac Festival in the summer of 2017, and the last listed public performance on Setlist.FM was on Dec. 28, 2017.
While there was no official announcement that the band broke up, it has been more than six years since they performed in the Buffalo market. They seemed to slowly fade away and were replaced by Glabicki’s duo shows with Miller, and a project called Uprooted, a band led by Glabicki that performs Rusted Root material.
By the time the band went on hiatus they still had three of the founding members in the group: Glabicki, Liz Berlin and Patrick Norman. The group built its reputation as a jam band, changing up sets every show, but always including the group’s two hits, “Ecstasy” and “Send Me on My Way.”
Those songs came from the Platinum selling major label debut of the band, “When I Woke,” which the group released in 1994. The album remains Rusted Root’s best-selling album, and while the follow up, 1996’s “Remember” reached Gold sales certification, the group never came close to matching the commercial success of “When I Woke.”
It wasn’t for a lack of quality. The band released four more albums after “Remember” and all of them were solid. The last album the group released was back in 2012, so while they are 31 years removed from their debut album “Cruel Sun,” they have only released seven albums over their career.
In 2017 Rusted Root faced some challenges, including a set at Red Rocks where Norman and Glabicki did not perform. Glabicki came down with altitude sickness and was hospitalized, leaving Berlin as the sole original member onstage that night.
Berlin continues to perform some solo shows and is active in the Pittsburgh music scene. Norman put out some videos during the pandemic shutdown. But, neither of them appear to be in any hurry to get back on the road with Rusted Root.
Fans of the band will certainly enjoy Glabicki’s show, because he is the de facto leader of Rusted Root. Nevertheless, Rusted Root was an important part of the Western New York music scene and the jam band scene. Their sudden departure left a void in the live music scene.
Hopefully the group will come back after their hiatus as an energized unit, and fans will once again get to experience the band’s iconic live shows.