Even under the most extreme of circumstances, Rusted Root lead singer and guitarist Michael Glabicki was able to find peace. With Woodstock ’99 threatening to spin out of control all around him — the festival would eventually be ended prematurely amid fires and riots — Mr. Glabicki went out to center stage as the roadies prepped for his band, sat down and started meditating.
“I just got really calm. The crew was walking around me [and I felt] really grounded to the point where it was one of the deepest moments for myself,” Mr. Glabicki told The Washington Times of the transcendent moment at the festival in Rome, New York, 200 miles and 30 years from the original 1969 site. “And I noticed that the crowd stated to connect with what I was doing. They were connecting with my energy, and I could feel that.”
The rowdy crowd, angry about overpriced water and a gross lack of much needed facilities, was tranquilized alongside Mr. Glabicki. He and his bandmates then picked up their instruments and started to play, rocking out to an appreciative 180,000 gathered.
“It wasn’t just me, it was sort of … being able to connect with them in a different way,” he said. “I wouldn’t have had that without really authentically being myself.”
Mr. Glabicki and the Pittsburgh band founded in 1990 will play at the District’s iconic 9:30 Club Friday, and swing back through the capital region Aug. 30 to hit up Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis.
Mr. Glabicki said his transcendental moment from Woodstock ’99 continues into the band’s DNA on their current tour.
“Musically we’re really relaxed enough to go out and just really be in the moment to the point where anything can happen,” he said. “And we let anything happen because we are just very relaxed.”
Rusted Root has sold over 3 million albums and toured consistently in their 26 years together, with signature tunes like “Send Me on My Way” and “Welcome to My Party.” The band’s output combines elements of rock, world music and a heavy dose of percussion. In fact, former drummer Jim Donovan, who now fronts his own band, The Sun King Warriors, released a percussion-heavy disc early this year that was heavy on percussion and world influences.
“I just saw Jim the other night,” Mr. Glabicki said, adding the band’s former drummer joined them on stage for the first time in many years.
Time was when a band could survive on record sales and tour to promote the album. That model is now completely upended thanks to the digital milieu. Mr. Glabicki said it is incumbent upon musicians — established or upcoming — to connect with their fans via social media.
And, of course, keep playing.
“It’s really all about the live show now,” he said. “It’s always been about the live show, but right now” even more so.
Mr. Glabicki fondly recalls talking shop with one of his heroes, Carlos Santana, and even getting to play beside the guitar god.
“He did everything from taking me aside to give me guitar lessons to giving me advice as far as how to lead the band,” Mr. Glabicki said. “At one point I came off stage and sort of felt I had a pretty good show, and he came up to me and said, ’You know what, man, you need to get angry.’ Then he walked away,” he added with a laugh.
Mr. Santana was trying to impart that there are different ways to lead a band, and that it’s “important to keep on top of it.”
Mr. Glabicki also got to pick the brains of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Despite the classic rockers having been rock royalty for nearly a half-century, Mr. Glabicki recalls that people would be surprised by “how childlike they are” and still approaching the music with a youthful exuberance.
“At the time we were [young], thinking we had to take this all very seriously,” Mr. Glabicki said. “When you see someone like that sort of acting like little kids, it’s pretty awesome.”
Mr. Glabicki recalls he and his Rusted Root bandmates sitting around on the grass in a circle when Mr. Plant came to joined them. The Zeppelin frontman brought along a pillow from his tour bus.
“He started talking and just kind of fell asleep right in front of us,” Mr. Glabicki said with a laugh. “It was pretty awesome.”
While in the capital, Mr. Glabicki said he will take a walk a few blocks away from the 9:30 Club along the booming U Street corridor, famous for its plethora of Ethiopian restaurants.
“I usually make my way to about 3 Ethiopian restaurants before the show,” Mr. Glabicki said. “I usually stick right around there; I kind of like that vibe.”
Rusted Root plays with Toad the Wet Sprocket at The 9:30 Club Friday. Tickets are $30 by going to Ticketfly.com.
• Eric Althoff can be reached at twt@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.