Taproot [ tickets ]'s fourth album, "Our Long Road Home," will be released Sept. 16 through the Velvet Hammer music and management group, home to System of a Down, Alice In Chains, Cypress Hill, Mickey Hart, The Fall of Troy, and Scars on Broadway, among others.

The album--a follow-up to 2005's "Blue Sky Research"--is the band's first independent release. In a press release, vocalist/guitarist Stephen Richards said releasing an indie after recording three albums for a major label used to be a scary thought. "But it's a brand-new world out there now for bands like us," he said. "We no longer have to rely on a big record company to make things happen and that's exciting."

Taproot's first Atlantic Records' album, "Gift," was released in 2000, followed by "Welcome" in 2002.