The Root Band is a power rock trio with an infectious sound that  covers a wide spectrum of music from rock, rhythm and blues to  reggae. They perform songs you don't usually hear a band cover, like  ZZ Top's, "La Grange", and Rick Derringers, "Rock and Roll Hoochie  Coo," but it's not unusual to hear the band pull out their originals  like, "Peace," and "Rasta Man", which always gets the audience, “All  Reved Up”.

Root has been performing together for 15 years, "exciting the  audience to dancing hysteria," says Laura Hull, manager of the Bethel  Depot in Vermont where The Root Band first sunk their roots. Since  then they've come down to the keys and in a few short years have  generated quite a buzz about their good energy and tight sound.  Valerie Ridenour of Key West The Newspaper says, "Rasta Man" is  reggae at its best with great lyrics and a guitar production that is  sheer magic." P.D. of the Vermont Review says, "Quality blues  influenced rock and roll with some healthy hints of reggae is what  this band is all about....these guys are out for a good time." The  response to their sound is always spectacular.

Root is built around singer songwriter guitarist, David Tortolano,  whom The Times Argus deems as having a "striking sound", with  "brilliant almost fevered guitar playing."  David has also played  with Keith Godshaux of the Grateful Dead, and his band has opened for  the Georgia Satellites and the Beaver Brown Band. Joining him on Bass  is  singer and saxophonist Rick Cleaver, who has countless years of  professional performance and studio experiences with Philadelphia  Rock bands Striker and Whitecollar and has performed locally with the  Infinite Tolerance band which has shared the stage with Inner Circle  and The Original Wailers. Rick’s rock solid rooted to the earth bass  provides a full sounding bed to David’s electrifying leads, all  filling up the aural spectrum with a top notch sound system. Newest  addition and drummer extrodinaire, Hal Howland, is also a singer  songwriter who has performed and composed classical, avant-garde,  jazz rock, and folk music in America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Since The Root Band has been in the Keys, singer songwirter Adrienne   has joined them and performs with them in the band Injade, but the  boys still love to rock out on their own and perform regularly at  places like Willie T's and Geiger Key Marina.