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Rusted Root CMJ Showcase
Rusted Root released Stereo Rodeo, their first studio album in 7 years, on May 5, 2009. On March 13, 2009 the album became available online. "We named our record Stereo Rodeo after a song that I started writing back when we were recording our last studio record. It’s really just a great name,’ says band founder/leader Michael Glabicki. ’We were all just so into the music,’ says vocalist/percussionist Liz Berlin about the recording process, ’the synergy and excitement on this album is so fresh and energizing.’ ’It is one of the most powerful albums we have ever recorded,’ agrees bassist/vocalist Patrick Norman.
’[Stereo Rodeo] is filled with all the different styles you’ve come to expect from Rusted Root, definitely having all the elements you want. From the energetic dance euphoria that Dance in the Middle evokes to the powerful epic sound of Weary Bones,’ writes Evan Levy (CBS Radio), of the long awaited eleven-song collection. ’We are getting a lot of positive feedback from fans,’ says vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter, Michael Glabicki, ’We are definitely heading in a lot of different directions with this new CD.’
Patrick Norman says about the invigorating energetic track that leads off the album, ’Dance in the Middle is one of those tracks that once we first started working on, we knew we had something.’ The title track, Stereo Rodeo brings a cinematic, wide-open and intimate style to the album that is captivating. The one cover on the album, Suspicious Minds, made famous by Elvis Presley in 1969, is reworked with new and vitalizing Latin rhythms and has become a powerful favorite at the band’s incendiary live shows. Glabicki states that the political track on the album, Bad Son, ’is about George Bush’s accomplishments, {as his fellow band members laugh} talking about his childhood insecurities that you can see were prevalent in how he ran the country.’ Filling out the album, the last track Crucible Glow was an obvious conclusion, as it’s about change and the uncertainty of the future, adding horns and a heavy groove to the polyrhythmic flow of the album.
Songs like Driving One & Driving Two ’came about musically by hanging out playing on stage, just improvising, and a groove just fell together,’ relays Patrick Norman. Other tracks on the album such as Weary Bones, Animals Love Touch and Garbage Man are songs Glabicki has been playing solo over the past few years that have been restructured by the band. ’What I like about our band is that I might write a song and have a certain idea for it but then we start playing and the group comes together, they often come up with different ways to express the emotions of the song,’ says Glabicki.
News Pop music critic Jeff Miers writes ’Rusted Root, which all but tore down the Tralf (Music Hall) on Thursday, knows how to take the singer/songwriter guy’s songs and pump them full of fire and life… These were strong lines with supporting chord progressions penned by Glabicki, and given abundant support by the [band]…in essence, this was a dance party…the new songs, Stereo Rodeo and Weary Bones, were standouts… Crucible Glow (was) among the most visceral…Glabicki appears these days as an elder statesman of ”˜world music’-based rock.’
Stereo Rodeo blends the diverse influences of each member to create an album that explores a variety of musical styles crossing and merging genres as usual. Original members Michael Glabicki (lead vocals, guitar), Liz Berlin (vocals, percussion), and Patrick Norman (vocals, bass, percussion) are joined on this album by Jason Miller (drums, percussion), Colter Harper (guitar), Preach Freedom (percussion) and Dirk Miller (guitar). ’Labeling is dangerous and limiting,’ said Glabicki. ’We are a band made up of individual musicians who come together collectively to create music, call it what you want but we are simply creating music that has a message.’ ’That message has been resonating with fans for nearly 20 years’ writes columnist Rick Coats.
Rusted Root has sold more than 3 million albums worldwide. Formed in Pittsburgh by singer/guitarist Glabicki in the early ”˜90s, Rusted Root’s worldly style quickly charmed fans of roots music and world rock. After debuting in 1992 with the self released Cruel Sun, Rusted Root signed with Mercury Records and released the 1994 platinum selling breakthrough When I Woke, which featured the hit songs Send Me On My Way, Ecstasy and Martyr. Not long after, the band scored on tours with Toad the Wet Sprocket, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, The Allman Brothers Band, HORDE Festival and, perhaps most notably, the highly coveted support role on the landmark Jimmy Page/Robert Plant reunion tour.
The hard-touring Rusted Root returned in 1996 with Remember, which was followed by 1998’s Rusted Root. Following some time off the band re-emerged in 2002 with Welcome To My Party. After leaving Mercury/Island Def Jam Records the band’s sixth album, Rusted Root Live, was released in 2004. This double live album was the second release on the band’s Touchy Pegg label, following the re-release of the newly remastered Cruel Sun in 2003. Along the way, Rusted Root has also issued three EPs (Evil Ways, Live, and Airplane), a home video (Rusted Root Live) and miscellaneous film and TV soundtrack tracks (Twister, Mathilda, Home For the Holidays, Party of Five, Charmed, Homicide, Ice Age). And interestingly, NASA engineers chose Send Me On My Way as "wake-up" music for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, for Sol 21.
-Neato.
Rusted Root will be touring throughout 2010 and 2011, playing their new music as well as some of the faithful fans favorites.
Photo: Duane Reider
EMEFE
EMEFE has only one intention: to play music that frees everybody in the audience, everybody listening at home, and everybody in the band. The band was created by drummer Miles Arntzen in 2009 to explore and share the afrobeat music pioneered in the 1970's and 80's by Fela Anikulapo Kuti and carried on today by Antibalas. In the same way that Fela used afrobeat music as a confrontation against corrupt politics, EMEFE uses its music to fight the inner authorities that we put on ourselves, each for our own specific reasons. EMEFE draws heavy influence from the funk music of Sly Stone, James Brown and Earth Wind and Fire, as well as hip hop and neo-soul influences. Mixed with a rock and roll edge, the powerful and exciting EMEFE sound never fails to get audiences jumping. EMEFE hopes to spread awareness of the healing power of music, dancing and smiling, which explains their reputation as one of the most exciting and engaging live bands in New York. EMEFE consists of a drummer, a bassist, 2 guitarists, a keyboardist, two percussionists, and a 4-piece horn section. Members of EMEFE have played with and studied with artists such as Antibalas, Sharon Jones & the Dapkings, Soulive, Charles Bradley, Menahan Street Band, TV on the Radio, Tower of Power, Medeski Martin and Wood, and many more. For more information and downloadable music, go to http://www.emefemusic.com. EMEFE - it's the way!
Yellowcake
Diversity is the key ingredient to the Yellowcake sound. With music that transcends culture, style and language, this NYC band is putting a global pulse on the city's music scene. Yellowcake officially formed in 2009 and today is a group of seven individuals who share a passion for creating original music that draws on their different backgrounds and musical influences. From the cross-genre melding of Latin rhythms with funk grooves to the group’s unique combination of musicians, you never know what you might see, hear, or feel at a Yellowcake show. Come vibe.
(le) poisson rouge | 158 Bleecker Street | 212.505.FISH | info@lprnyc.com
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