Rusted Root has played Rochester almost annually since the early 90’s, and is about to play the Lilac Festival for the fifth time in a row. Why do Rochesterians like this band so much?
Ah yes, spring is in the air, and here comes another Lilac Festival to kick off the Rochester festival season, pumping music and the smell of lilacs like so much old lady perfume into the air. And … here comes Rusted Root.
Rusted Root will play the 2017 edition of the Lilac Festival on Wednesday, May 17, its fifth time. Rusted Root? I don’t really get it, so I did a little digging around — and every person I asked answered with some kind of eye-roll.
Rusted Root has been playing Rochester almost annually since the early 1990’s, when the Pittsburgh jamsters played the now defunct Downtown Festival Tent. The band has even brought its rhythm-centric world beat to the Rochester International Jazz Festival. It draws big crowds (including at The Blue Cross Arena), but there’s one thing: they aren’t all that amazing. Still, they persist and thousands upon thousands of Rochester music fans lose their shit. Rust never sleeps; perhaps it should take a nap.
Typically the Lilac Festival brings in a whole parade of new and exciting artists peppered with legends. Where does Rusted Root fit in?
Festival Producer Jeff Springut has managed to balance the job of music promoter and music fan. His passion runs deep when promoting a new artist he’s just discovered or a legend who has come out of retirement. And Springut is quick to point out that it isn’t the festival’s policy to book repeat artists.
Yet the demand is so strong not only from fans, but from Rusted Root itself, that he finds himself giving in. “They love their fans in Rochester,” Springut says.
Rusted Root is one of the festival’s top draws, pulling in about 6,000 to 7,000 devoted fans each time. According to Springut, Rusted Root has gone as far as to suggest playing all 10 days with a different set performed each night. Thankfully, Springut lowered the boom on that.
But some music fans and musicians, like Doug Mac, scratch their chins and wonder aloud, “Why the same old shit?”
“Probably because it’s a sure thing,” says musician Greg Andrews. “You know what you’re going to get.” But who always wants to know what they’re going to get. Isn’t this a little repetitive?
“We don’t like to repeat performers from year to year,” Springut says. “But at this point with Rusted Root, it’s not repetition, it’s become a tradition. Their appeal is hard for me to describe.”
The Lilac Festival is calling this year’s lineup the “year of the funky jam bands.” But that’s kind of every year, especially when Rusted Root makes its annual trek from Pittsburgh.
Over the years, the Lilac Festival has blessed us with Zydeco legends like Buckwheat Zydeco, blues greats like Johnny Winter, up-and-comers like Lake Street Dive, and tons of new regional and local talent … and then there’s Rusted Root.
I have nothing against jam bands; they are the quintessential embodiment of music outdoors. I never particularly dug The Grateful Dead, but I understand Deadheads and hippies. Same goes for Rusted Root. Its music just doesn’t do it for me, with all its polyrhythmic overload. It’s overdone and yields the same excitement as boiled cardboard. It doesn’t allow for air. The band is still riding out its 1994 hit “Send Me on My Way,” off its album “When I Woke,” where singer Michael Glabicki intones with so much jiggly vibrato it sounds as if somebody dumped a bucket of ice down Tarzan’s pants.
In spite of anything I can say, though, Rusted Root has sold more than 3 million records worldwide.
Buddhahood guitarist Nate Coffey thinks fans should dig a little deeper. “People want to hear what they know,” he says. “They want to hear hits.”
Of course, that doesn’t apply to everyone. But there is so much good, new music on the road and popping up on stages right here at home. There are a million bands that musicphiles like Springut and me want you to hear. Bands that’ll wake you up, turn you on, and turn you out. Fresh music, kids. We should all get out there and hear it, demand it, and embrace it.
Or in the meanby, you could check out Rusted Root … again.
This article appears in May 3-9, 2017.
I’m not a jam band fan in the least (Morrissey/Smiths fan) but I get the appeal of Rusted Root year after year after.. It’s Rochester’s guilty pleasure where we get to shake off whatever winter did to us the past few months. I have a feeling a lot of people will need to do a lot of shaking this year.
I’m so sick of Rusted Root…please book someone new and interesting for Lilac Fest
This has got to be the rudest article I have ever read about a band that has talent and whom this city obviously loves. What gives?
I concur re: RR. But to compare Rusted Root to Grateful Dead because they’re both jam bands, is like comparing the Bay City Rollers to the Beatles, because they were both boy bands. ” I understand Deadheads and hippies” I rather doubt it.
OK, so “Rusted Root is one of the festival’s top draws, pulling in about 6,000 to 7,000 devoted fans each time.” Yet the author is very VERY down on Rusted Root, and it sounds like for no other reason than he doesn’t really like them. And he quotes some other local musicians who concur with his opinion. Which is all fine. But when it comes right down to it, whether someone likes certain music or not is a matter of taste. And if many people like a certain type of music, for better or worse, that carries a lot of weight, more than a minority of people who say they are tired of them. Especially since we’re talking about one night of a what, 9 night festival with a different band or bands every night? Why begrudge a festival for booking a band with a large and enthusiastic following, for one night out of a week-plus long festival?
They are a good crowd band, and they basically evoke a happy “join together” type of vibe. But having said thst, there are surely other acts that can accomplish the same thing.
I am really surprised to read such a negative article about Rusted Root. Why print something so close to the date of the festival that leaves such a negative taste in our mouths? If you don’t care for the band, don’t come to the festival on that night. I agree, there are thousands of other bands that could have been booked, but I also agree that Rusted Root is a safe bet– you know what you’re getting with this band, and honestly, it’s always a blast going to the festival when they perform. They draw a big crowd to this little festival and that must mean something good. Rochester has a pretty decent music community, and I think those that are interested are listening to “fresh music.” At the same time, I happen to love that Rusted Root’s annual Lilac Fest appearance is turning into a tradition. I hope they don’t read this article. I hope 7,000 people still show up to hear them next week.