arts&life
music
Uprooted
PHOTO BY CARA FREIDHAM
RABBI JASON MILLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rusted Root front
man Michael Glabicki
brings his new band
to Metro Detroit.
details
The JCC Ethan & Gretchen
Davidson Music Festival will be
held May 24-27 at the Berman
Center for Performing Arts (unless
otherwise noted). A marketplace
at the festival on May 26-27 will
include visual artists, artisans
and food vendors, including food
trucks. Theberman.org.
ABOVE: Michael Glabicki and
Dirk Miller of Uprooted.
110
May 24 • 2018
T
he JCC Ethan & Gretchen Davidson
Music Festival returns for its sec-
ond year at the Berman Center for
Performing Arts.
The festival, held May 24-27, offers an
innovative approach to arts and music
festivals, showcasing three artists for three
nights of extraordinary music. Project Trio
will perform May 24 (at Go Comedy! Improv
Theatre in Ferndale) and Grammy-winning
Marc Cohn, well-known for his hit “Walking
in Memphis,” will perform on May 26.
Rusted Root’s Michael Glabicki will bring
his solo project, Uprooted, to the festival on
May 27.
Glabicki is the founder and lead singer of
the multiplatinum band Rusted Root, which
formed almost 30 years ago in Pittsburgh,
and has collaborated with the likes of
Santana, the Allman Brothers Band and
Led Zeppelin. The band is known for its
fusion of acoustic, rock and world music,
and Glabicki promises to continue play-
ing Rusted Root’s entire catalog of music
on tour with re-inspired versions, as well
as bringing new and exciting music under
the new name of Uprooted, his new touring
band.
Glabicki talked to the JN’s Contributing
Writer Rabbi Jason Miller (a longtime
Rusted Root fan) about the tour, his musical
influences, spirituality, depression — and
what to expect when Uprooted comes to the
Davidson Music Festival.
Rabbi Jason Miller: Tell me a little bit
about Uprooted and the inspiration behind
jn
it.
Michael Glabicki: Uprooted came about
because I was doing a lot of writing and get-
ting into different writing techniques. I’ve
really come up with a lot of different sounds,
grooves and ways of laying out the different
lyrics and vocals of the songs. It’s a really
explosive and prolific time for me to be put-
ting this all together. I just kind of felt like
it was taking a trajectory that was off the
Rusted Root path.
RJM: What can we expect when you bring
Uprooted to the Davidson Musical Festival?
MG: Some of the artists were in the
Rusted Root touring band so I’ve worked
with them in different ways. We’re a very
intuitive band. There’s a lot of chemistry
when I’m in the room with them so it just
very easily flows. What I’m trying to do is
create a safe environment where whatever
happens happens, meaning that we can
come in one day and play something com-
pletely different than what we did the previ-
ous day. It really comes down to just living
in the moment where whatever we feel
like that day is what is going to inspire the
arrangement of the songs. So, when we get
on stage, we’re just going to be who we are
and it’s going to be a big surprise to us.
RJM: Liz Berlin [member of Rusted Root]
is Jewish and her father, Cantor Rick Berlin,
was at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s
cantorial school. Do you personally have
any connection to Judaism?
MG: My sister converted to Judaism about
five years ago. She married a Jewish guy, so
I’ve been to some of the ceremonies. I love
it and I think it’s a great community kind of
feel. I was at their daughter’s bat mitzvah
and it was beautiful.
RJM: Your music incorporates so many
diverse styles. Who are your influences?
MG: Probably the earliest one would be
Cat Stevens. When I was 6 years old, I’d
listen to the 8-track of The Greatest Hits of
Cat Stevens that my parents had. I’d just
sit down under the dining room table and
just experience his songwriting. I think the
acoustic aspect of what he was doing prob-
ably touched me at an early age. That’s what
drove me to play Rusted Root music on an
acoustic guitar at first. In my first year of
college I dropped out because I had depres-
sion, but songwriting helped me to feel a
whole lot better. That’s when I decided to
become a songwriter.
RJM: Talk to me about your love of instru-
ments. I know you play the penny whistle
and some other unusual instruments.
MG: When I was figuring out the vision
for the band, I spent a good two years figur-
ing out what I wanted the landscape of the
music to be. I was on electric guitar at the
time and that was my world. I was think-
ing, “What am I missing here … what would
fill out the music? How could I bring the
colors in that were needed?” When I heard
John Buynak, who had a lot of really cute
instruments that were spontaneous and full
of laughter, I think that’s when it clicked.
When I heard him play the penny whistles
and the flutes, I was like, “OK, that’s it.” •