At about minute 12 of any drawn-out jam-band solo — especially if the herb's flowing freely — not a single soul in the campground can tell the band onstage apart from any other at the festival. Unless, of course, that band is Rusted Root. Unlike many of its contemporaries, the Pittsburgh sextet distinguishes itself with a bongo-pounding percussion section that's as much out of Africa as Pennsylvania. Whereas Moe and O.A.R. seem locked in their self-sustaining universe, the Root has escaped into the mainstream, with its hit single "Send Me On My Way" making it all the way to the film Ice Age. Is that a good move in the noncommercial jam-band world? We'll have to get back to you on that one.
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