"I think our music is really about feeling--about our creative feelings on stage, and about creating a feeling within the audience," said Norman. "We push ourselves to play consistently from the heart, and we want people to feel that in our music," he adds.
In 1990, Michael Glabicki was excited to bring together a group that shared his musical vision. "We all met through friends of friends," explains Norman, "and started to jam together."
The rest is history. Rusted Root is known for its energetic and up-beat music and spontaneous, ritualistic performances. Highly regarded by audiences for its hypnotic blend of percussion and ethereal vocals, the music builds on a blend of African, Latin American and other World-music influences.
Norman acknowledges the band's difficulty in singling out a specific musical influence, because each member "brings his or her own musical taste to the creative process."
The size of the group--six members--can also pose problems. "It is definitely a challenge to create musical space for everyone." He giggles, "We don't want to make a 'music-mush,'" but "that is why our music is still so interesting, because it presents so many challenges. We are still learning to play as one while creating a musical picture."
After years on the competitive Northeastern club tour, the band is excited to be touring as a headlining band. "I'm glad that we did it the way we did it," said Norman about touring as an opening band. "We were able to get some experience and work on our stamina as a group, and our music and shows are stronger because of it."
Rusted Root will perform at 328 Performance Hall this Thursday. "We are excited about returning to the lush music community in Nashville," Norman said. And Rusted Root fans, no doubt, are excited as well.