Taproot

Nu Metal

Taproot is an American nu metal/alternative rock band. Hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Taproot formed in late 1997, and has toured with Deftones, Sevendust, Incubus, and Korn. Taproot's album Blue Sky Research was released on 16 August 2005. Their song Calling was the official theme song of WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view event in September 2005. The second single from the album, Birthday, received minimal radio airtime on the East Coast. In 1997, Taproot sent their demo to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Impressed with their material, he offered to get them a recording contract through Interscope Records. However, after extended negotiations, Taproot looked elsewhere, where they finally landed a lucrative record deal with Atlantic Records. Durst heavily cursed the band on vocalist Stephen Richards' answering machine. He also put some blame on System of a Down, who assisted Taproot in securing the Atlantic deal. In retaliation, Durst also kicked System of a Down off the 1999 Family Values Tour, replacing them with Staind. Taproot later went on to independently release three albums: ...Something More Than Nothing (1998), Mentobe (1998) and Upon Us (1999). The band released their debut album Gift on June 27, 2000. With the album's lead single Again & Again gaining heavy exposure through MTV2, the band's mainstream rise gained momentum. With the help of Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack, Taproot landed a spot on the second stage of the 2000 and 2001 Ozzfest tour. After spending se...