By Doug Sitler
Starting in the early 1990s, the Pittsburgh band, Rusted Root made a mark on the musical world with their tribal rock and soul music. Led by enigmatic lead singer and guitarist, Michael Glabicki, the group played sold out concerts and tours, created several well-received albums, jammed alongside the biggest names in the music business, and gave birth to the mega-hit single “Send Me On My Way” – which thirty years later, is still heard on radio, movies, TV shows and commercials.
Jamestown and the Southern Tier region were the first areas, outside of Pittsburgh, to embrace Glabicki and Rusted Root. Great Blue Heron Music Festival Co-founder, David Tidquist invited the band to play Jamestown’s Joyce’s Keg Room in 1991. The band’s high-energy concerts at the Keg Room and Blue Heron became stuff of local legend. Each and every Western New York show captured a growing audience of fanatical fans. From Pittsburgh and the Chautauqua region, Rusted Root took off like a rocket ship that spanned 25 years…and continues with Michael Glabicki to this day.
In addition, the Village of Ellicottville knows a good thing when they see it. The town’s Chamber of Commerce have featured Rusted Root twice, and a concert by Glabicki’s newest band, Uprooted.
Good times will return! Michael Glabicki is coming back to Western New York for a special mid-winter concert at the University at Buffalo.
On Saturday, February 4, 2023, 8pm, Glabicki and Dirk Miller will be playing an intimate concert at the UB’s Center for the Arts Drama Theater. Tickets for the show can be purchased at Ticketmaster. There are VIP tickets available, which provide a personal meet and greet with Michael and Dirk.
Glabicki will bring his distinct vocals and blend of acoustic folk, rock, and world music in a duo performance with long-time bandmate Dirk Miller. They will take the old Rusted Root favorites along with new material and perform re-envisioned versions of them in UB’s Drama Theatre, in an up-close and intimate setting.
“We go into the crevices of the songs and expand them out and open up the music to whatever happens in the moment,” Glabicki says of his shows with Miller. “It’s completely improvisational, to the point where we surprise ourselves a lot. Things just happen, and I start laughing. It’s like we’ve never heard it sound like that before. We have a great time with it and the audience seems to enjoy the musical exploration too.”
A multifaceted musician, producer and songwriter, Glabicki’s talents are unique and extremely uplifting. His new projects and music are extensions of his creative talent, and will inspire all those who participate.
It’s going to be a hot winter’s night in Buffalo, on February 4th.