In the beginning, the music of Pittsburgh-based Rusted Root was merely an outlet for vocalist/guitarist Mike Glabicki.
"It was for my needing to express myself," said Glabicki on the phone just before he hit the stage in Nashville, Tenn. "There was really no other way for me to get all my garbage out of my system."Glabicki, bassist Patrick Norman, wind instrumentalist John Buynak and percussionists Jim Donovan, Jim DiSpirito and Liz Berlin - collectively known as Rusted Root - will make a stop at the Wolf Mountain Dome, Monday, Nov. 21. Joan Osborne will open the show at 7:30 p.m.
Rusted Root was formed in 1990 when Berlin and Glabicki met with Donovan to make a demo tape for a local battle of the bands contest. After the group qualified for the finals, the three recruited Norman. When the smoke cleared, Rusted Root finished fourth out of 152 entries.
"I think we created this by determination in the beginning," explained Glabicki. "We created it through focusing on energy. We definitely knew back then where we wanted to go with this group.
"My influences were whatever happened to be on at the time," Glabicki said. "It served more for meditation and helped me find a way to tap into my internal senses. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but there's a magic we share and we have what we need to keep writing and evolving as human beings."
Evolution and progression is a major pull for the band, said Glabicki.
"It's a bummer to see the bands you worship stop and become content," he said. "It seems they think they've made it at a certain point. We don't feel that way and I don't believe we'll ever feel that way."
In keeping with the ongoing musical process, Rusted Root remade Santana's "Evil Ways" for the now-running Jodie Foster flick "Home for the Holidays."
"We were very excited to be part of that," Glabicki said. "We've also a video coming out. We are definitely in this for good."