Michigan Hard Rock favorites TAPROOT have released the first single ‘VIP {V\CT\M \ PLAY)’ from their upcoming 7th studio album SC\SSRS, to all digital outlets Worldwide. Produced by guitarist/vocalist Stephen Richards at The Loft in Saline, MI, the album, fully written and recorded by Richards, will be the band’s first studio release since 2012’s The Episodes (Victory), set to hit stores September 29th via THC MUSIC/Amplified Distribution.
SC\SSRS is available for pre-order now from taprootmerch.com.
Also on digital outlets today, Best of Besides, an 18-track collection of remastered demos and rarities, mastered by Richard Easterling (Tantric, Zen From Mars) in stores on CD 5/19. Pre-order on LP at taprootmerch.com.
Taproot has also added additional dates to their string of upcoming headlining shows, marking the band’s first shows in over six years, and their first tour in over a decade, set to feature special guests September Mourning, Eva Under Fire, Smile Empty Soul, and Heartsick on select dates. The upcoming shows will also showcase the return of original drummer Jarrod Montague, who will join the band for select upcoming shows (with all other shows featuring longtime drummer Dave Coughlin of Sponge), and new full-time guitarist Taylor Roberts (Riding With Killers).
The band has also announced a headlining appearance August 18th at the 2023 NORTHWOODS ROCK RALLY in Glen Flora, WI, as well as their previously announced “reunion” appearance at Blue Ridge Rock Fest in September.
Taproot formed in 1997 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and went on to sign to Atlantic Records, releasing their Ulrich Wild (Static-X, Pantera, Mindless Self Indulgence) produced debut album GIFT in 2000, followed by extensive touring including appearances on Ozzfest 2000 and 2001, and tours with Deftones, Incubus, Papa Roach, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Disturbed, and Linkin Park.
The bands sophomore release Welcome, their first pairing with legendary producer Toby Wright (Alice in Chains, Metallica, Korn, Primus) which Rolling Stone called, “a self-preserving transition from new metal to art metal”, went on to sell over 500,000 copies and spawn the hit Rock singles “Poem”, which peaked at #5 on the Mainstream Rock charts, and “Mine”, helping propel “Welcome” to over 50 million digital streams. The band would continue heavy touring with Alien Ant Farm, Chevelle, joining Disturbed on the Music As A Weapon Tour, and Linkin Park. Vocalist Stephen Richards would also appear on the track “P5hng Me A*wy” on Linkin Park’s 2002 remix album REANIMATION.
2005 saw the release of Blue-Sky Research, also helmed by Wright, the band’s final release for Atlantic, which spawned the hit radio single “Calling”, co-written with FAR vocalist Jonah Matranga, and saw the band collaborate with Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Nick Hexum (311), and Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), with heavy touring again, with the likes of Chevelle, Staind, P.O.D., and Flyleaf.
Taproot released several more full-length studio albums, including 2008’s Our Long Road Home (Velvet Hammer), 2010’s Plead The Fifth (Victory), with the single “Fractured (Everything I Said was True)” reaching the top 20 on the Active Rock Chart, and 2012’s The Episodes, while continuing to tour consistently through 2013, when the band went on an indefinite hiatus, returning only to play a sporadic handful of local Michigan shows, before reforming officially this year.
