Reggae/rock band Through the Roots released their Here To Stay EP in July 2011. In early June 2012, guitarist/keyboardist Chris Cruz locked himself in his room for a weekend to study up on Kickstarter, a crowd-funding site for creative projects. He’d heard of Kickstarter in passing but didn’t think much of it until a music-industry mentor told him it was gaining a lot of buzz in creative circles and might be worth looking into.

Cruz and his band of 20-somethings were on the brink of their fourth national tour, and their green bus (“Betsy”) needed work. They also needed studio time to put together their first full-length album. If they were going to do it all, they’d need more money than their various odd jobs (fast-food service, neighborhood handyman, screen-printing) could generate.

“We realized Kickstarter was probably the best option to keep us on track for meeting all the goals we want to accomplish this year.” They ended up raising $11,160.

On September 13, 2012, the band began their West Coast tour along with Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds, another reggae/rock band out of Hermosa Beach, before heading to the East Coast for a tour with Rebelution and Passafire.

The band's black and green tour bus accidentally caught fire on March 2, 2015, while the group was on their way to a gig in North Carolina. The members were unharmed and continued to tour the west coast and Nevada through mid-June, before returning to San Diego on June 13 to play Oyster Fest.