Michigan-based hard rock quartet TAPROOT will release its new album "Our
> Long Road Home", on September 16 through Velvet Hammer, the label founded by
> the management company of the same name (SYSTEM OF A DOWN, DEFTONES). The
> follow-up to 2005's "Blue-Sky Research" will feature the following track
> listing:
>
> 01. The Path Less Taken
> 02. Hand That Holds True
> 03. Wherever I Stand
> 04. Be the One
> 05. Take It!
> 06. It's Natural
> 07. As One
> 08. You're Not Home Tonight
> 09. Footprints
> 10. Run To
> 11. Interlude
> 12. Karmaway
>
> Working with producer Tim Patalan (SPONGE, LOVEDRUG), the band penned more
> than fifty songs for the album, twelve of which were recorded in a converted
> barn just a few minutes down the road from vocalist/guitarist Stephen
> Richards' home.
>
> "Our Long Road Home" reveals a revitalized band with a broadened range and
> deepened perspective. The album combines the feral ("Take It") with the
> grandiose ("Footprints") while exploring themes of loss ("Be The One"),
> liberation ("Run To") and the emotional carnage in-between. On tracks such as
> "Hand That Holds True" and smoldering lead single "Wherever I Stand", TAPROOT
> blends iron-fisted backbeats, honeyed melodies and speaker-shattering guitars
> to thrilling effect.
>
> After recording three albums for a major label, "Our Long Road Home" will be
> TAPROOT's first as an indie band, and as Richards tells it, that suits them
> just fine. "Budget cuts and political shifts cost us our support system at
> the old place," he says. "When our A&R guy lost his job, we knew it was time
> for a change. A few years ago, that might've been a scary thing, but it's a
> brand-new world out there now for bands like us. We no longer have to rely on
> a big record company to make things happen and that's exciting. We made this
> record without the pressure of having to write four smash hit singles hanging
> over our heads and that was liberating. Of course," he laughs, "there are a
> few songs on the album that could do really well on radio."
>
> With "Our Long Road Home", TAPROOT is staying true to their roots, while
> keeping their grooves current and hearts open. "There's a sense of energy and
> excitement about us that we haven't felt since we released our first album,"
> says Richards. "We're ready to hit the ground running."
>
>
> TAPROOT performing in Detroit - June 2008:
>
>
>
