RUSTED ROOT ROLLS OUT ON SUMMER TOUR WITH SANTANA

FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/LATHUM NELSON

RUSTED ROOT ROLLS OUT
ON SUMMER TOUR WITH SANTANA

Longtime concert favorites RUSTED ROOT will take their spirited show on the road this summer with Santana beginning July 31 in Virginia Beach, VA. The summertime shed tour will hit 16 East Coast and mid-west cities, wrapping August 25 in St. Paul, MN. Rusted Root are on tour in support of their new album, Welcome To My Party (Island).

This will not be Rusted Root’s first time out with the legendary guitarist and his group, but for lead singer/guitarist MICHAEL GLABICKI, co-founder of Rusted Root, this tour in particular promises its share of surprises. “I expect to be up onstage with Santana and have him play three or four songs I’ve never heard, and he’s gonna point to me about 30 seconds into each song and ask me to take a solo,” Glabicki laughs. “Then he’s going to walk offstage with a cigar and leave me there. Always with Carlos, it’s a big, huge smile; that’s what I love about playing with him.”

With a fresh focus on songwriting fueled by the band’s fine-tuned skills as improvisers, Welcome To My Party crystallizes all the key elements of Rusted Root. The return of singer/multi-instrumentalist JENN WERTZ has inspired them to sharpen their playing while stretching into new areas of influence; there’s even a dash or two of electronic rhythm mixed into the organic, multicultural elements that live at the center of their sound.

With Jenn onboard alongside Glabicki, singer/multi-instrumentalist LIZ BERLIN, guitarist/percussionist/flutist JOHN BUNYAK, drummer/percussionist/background vocalist JIM DONOVAN and guitarist/woodwind player/percussionist/singerPATRICK NORMAN, Rusted Root’s original lineup is back in business, with history as well as renewed creative energies on its side. “Having Jenn back makes a big difference,” Glabicki says. “There’s a lot more energy onstage, and she adds a whole new charisma to the performance. It’s just awesome to have her back.”

As one of the biggest draws on the college circuit (they’ve also performed on bills with the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, Page & Plant and Jewel, Rusted Root replenishes its base of loyal listeners with new fans each year. The Pittsburgh natives broke onto the music scene with their independent release Cruel Sun, which was followed by their major label debut, 1994’s double-platinum debut When I Woke, the gold-selling Remember (’96) and Rusted Root (’98).

The enthusiasm surfaces in the raves that Welcome To My Party has earned in the mainstream media. Performing Songwriter said (in an A- review), “The band continues to crank out lavish, excellently textured grooves and frontman Michael Glabicki is as charismatic as ever, channeling Jim Morrison and Jeff Buckley simultaneously. This time around they’ve honed their writing skills and the record is more focused than previous releases. Even the jams are well placed and purposeful and the rhythmic textures are dazzling.” Dan Aquilante of the New York Post hailed the album as “lush, accessible, and refreshingly different from what the rest of the pop world is up to.”

On the college front, Allison Lewis of The Tech at M.I.T. calls it “music with a melody. It’s fresh and cool, and won’t ever go out of style.” Andy Argyrakis, writing for Hear/Say (“America’s college newspaper”), ties the album–with its fresh material and exuberant spontaneity–to the allure of the band’s live performances: “Welcome To My Party is a no-brainer soundtrack to any social gathering…and by the time the band makes a trip to your corner of the country, they’ll…leave fans celebrating all night long.” The celebrations begin this month; check out schedule for details or go to the www.rustedroot.com website for news, tour dates and posting from the group and their fans.

Tour dates are as follows:

+ indicates show is with Santana

# # #