PAPA ROACH: New Album To Be Produced By JAY BAUMGARDNER

Jay Baumgardner, veteran producer and head of NRG Studios, has been tapped to produce and mix the new PAPA ROACH album this spring. PAPA ROACH returns to its roots with Baumgardner, and is looking to duplicate the energy brought together for the band's debut album, "Infest", which remains the group's best-selling album to date with nearly 3.5 million copies sold.

PAPA ROACH recently permanently split with longtime drummer Dave Buckner, according to a message posted by frontman Jacoby Shaddix. The singer wrote, "We are going through a lot of changes right now...Change is good — it keeps things fresh. For y'all that don't know, we had to split with Dave, our drummer. It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. He's taking this time to get his life together. We are still friends and still talk on a regular basis. The road is a hard place to live, and if you are falling apart, it will destroy you. He will be missed."

Buckner first left the band while on tour last spring, entering rehab to deal with substance abuse issues. He returned over the summer, but exited again later in the year. Shaddix told The Pulse of Radio that going back on tour might not have been the best thing for the drummer. "Really, the road ain't a place to heal, you know what I'm saying?" he said. "It's like, the road is, if you're not healthy, it's not gonna make you any better, you know what I'm saying. And so, for him, he just had to just go step away from it again, you know, so...the show must go on."

UNWRITTEN LAW drummer Tony Palermo filled in for Buckner on tour, but it's not clear if he will become a fulltime member of PAPA ROACH.

Shaddix also indicated in his post that PAPA ROACH will head back to the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles to begin writing its new album. The group wrote and recorded its last effort, 2006's "The Paramour Sessions", at the same location.