Roots Tonic was the name of the three piece rock-reggae band best known as Matisyahu's backing band during live shows and studio recordings. The band was made up of Aaron Dugan (guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and sounds), Josh Werner

Josh Werner

Josh Werner is an American bassist, producer and songwriter. He was a co-writer and bassist of the Certified Gold RIAA albums Matisyahu and the Grammy nominated Matisyahu ....

 (bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 and keyboard

Musical keyboard

A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...

, also co-writes songs with Matisyahu), and Jonah David (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

 and percussion). They have recorded two studio albums and a live album with Matisyahu, but the name Roots Tonic was first mentioned on the inside cover of Matisyahu's 2006 major label album Youth

Youth (Matisyahu album)

Youth is an album by American Hasidic Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu, which was released on March 7, 2006. It is his second proper studio release, as Live at Stubb's is a live album...

and its dub version, Youth Dub.

Youth producer Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....

 was so impressed with the band that he invited it to record a dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

 album with him. The result, Roots Tonic meets Bill Laswell, was released in mid 2006 on Reach Out International Records

ROIR

ROIR , or Reach Out International Records, is a New York City-based record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper.ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label exclusively distributed its releases in cassette format...

.

In 2007, first Jonah David, and shortly after Josh Werner

Josh Werner

Josh Werner is an American bassist, producer and songwriter. He was a co-writer and bassist of the Certified Gold RIAA albums Matisyahu and the Grammy nominated Matisyahu ....

 left Matisyahu's live band, and this meant the end of Roots Tonic as well.

In 2009/2010, Dub Trio

Dub Trio

Dub Trio is a dub/rock cross-over band from Brooklyn, New York.-Biography:Dub Trio is DP - Dave Holmes Stu Brooks and Joe Tomino...

 became Root Tonic's successor to support Matisyahu live on stage.

In 2011, Bill Laswell and Josh Werner produced Lee "Scratch" Perry's studio album "Rise Again"; Aaron Dugan plays guitar on select tracks.

Solo

Date of Release	Title	Label
2006	Roots Tonic meets Bill Laswell	Reach Out International Records ROIR ROIR , or Reach Out International Records, is a New York City-based record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper.ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label exclusively distributed its releases in cassette format...

with Matisyahu

Date of Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak	US RIAA Certification
November 1, 2004	Shake Off the Dust...Arise Shake Off the Dust...Arise Shake Off the Dust... Arise is Matisyahu's debut album and was released October 28, 2004 by JDub Records. It fell out of print following his move to Epic Records, and would remain a collector's item until it was remastered and reissued in October 2010, sold exclusively through his official website...	JDub Records JDub Records JDub Records is a non-profit record and event production company striving to build community through new and innovative Jewish music and cross cultural musical dialogue.-History:...	Did not chart
April 19, 2005	Live at Stubb's Live at Stubb's (Matisyahu album) Live at Stubb's is a live album by Matisyahu. It was recorded live at Stubb's in Austin, Texas on February 19, 2005 under his record label Or Music. The album first debuted at #5 on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart, then seven months later it debuted at #176 on the Billboard 200... (live)	JDub JDub Records JDub Records is a non-profit record and event production company striving to build community through new and innovative Jewish music and cross cultural musical dialogue.-History:... /Or/Epic Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...	30	Gold
March 7, 2006	Youth Youth (Matisyahu album) Youth is an album by American Hasidic Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu, which was released on March 7, 2006. It is his second proper studio release, as Live at Stubb's is a live album...		4	Gold
	Youth Dub (only partially with Matisyahu)		Not yet charted
December 26, 2006	No Place to Be No Place to Be No Place to Be is an album release from Hasidic Reggae star Matisyahu. The album does not contain any previously unreleased songs, but all of the tracks are remixed or rerecorded versions of old songs... (CD/DVD)	Sony Music	Not yet charted