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Our Long
Road Home |
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In 1997, four young
musicians from Ann Arbor, MI, assembled a ticking time bomb waiting to explode
and change the hard rock genre forever. Now as we enter a new millennium, only a
few bands are left that dare to defy musical norms. Enter TapRoot, an incendiary
combination of progressive musicians pushing the limit of hardcore music to the
extent of redefining it. "Like art, music is meant to be timeless," explains
Mike DeWolf, TapRoot's guitar player, "In some ways, music is like movies-some
make that special connection, touch you in a way that's new." TapRoot's music
has an enduring quality, a sparkling emotion, so charged with energy that it
captures, intrigues and inspires. The connection they make creates a depth of
feeling capable of revealing unexpected insights from within. Adlin Rosli from
the Michigan Daily writes, "With one foot firmly placed in heavy music and the
other lost in experimentation, the group creates music that crushes, soothes,
excites, more often than not, in the same song."
TAPROOT?
According to Steve Richards, TapRoot's vocalist, the name TapRoot is a perfect
word to define the band both lyrically, musically, spiritually and emotionally.
"Mike brought up the word 'taproot' to me on the phone as he was flipping
through a thesaurus. It's the main root that others stem off of, and I was
really excited because I know that in earth medicine of native tribes, taproot
means the soul/spirit, which is a major subject in my lyrics." Steve's words
contribute to the transcendent quality of TapRoot's music. "Lyrically, it's very
spiritual and uplifting. Musically, I like to call it heavy alternative." While
TapRoot as a band is not easily defined, their introspective, thought provoking
content and style suggests that there is much below the surface to explore.
GIFT
As 2000 opened, TapRoot witnessed their three year vision come into existence
when they recorded their major label debut as the first release on Velvet Hammer
Music/Atlantic Records. The band's collection of songs is assembled under the
name Gift, produced, engineered and mixed by Ulrich Wild, the studio intellect
credited for working with the Deftones, Static-X and Staind. According to Mike,
the name Gift has multiple meanings. The first is a play on words, an indirect
reference to the "here and now" or the "present" time. The second is more
straightforward, " it's our gift to the people around us, family, friends and
fans, all of which have given their upmost respect and support," says Mike. Gift
is TapRoot's prolific, progressively diverse introduction to the world, a sonic
barrage from every angle, blowing the curve for every band only trying to be
imitators.
IN CLOSING
What is it within an art-filled musical composition that touches upon a certain
aspect of one's life that makes it resonate with one's being? How is a listener
influenced and changed by the sounds and emotions of the music? True artistic
creations contain gems of pure inspiration for the listener to discover and
experience. TapRoot, rounded out by Jarrod Montague on drums and Phil Lipscomb
on bass, invites the listener to discover their engaging intensity. "The soul,
the taproot, is capable of a dizzying amount of emotion and achievement. This
Ann Arbor group that has taken on the name TapRoot demonstrates its ability to
transform emotion and achievement into a sonic collage," writes Adlin Rosli.
TapRoot is the answer to all the mindless hardcore bands trying to "follow the
leader."ndeed. |
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