Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, spearheading the H.O.R.D.E. touring music festival.
The group comprises singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla, and keyboardist Ben Wilson. Tad Kinchla and Ben Wilson joined the band following the death of original bassist Bobby Sheehan in 1999.
The general public is most familiar with the group from their hit singles "But Anyway", "Run-Around", "Hook", the latter two from their 1994 album four which sold several million copies. Fans are allowed to record the band's concerts.
Sheehan's death and Popper's struggle with obesity put a damper on the group's mainstream success, and A&M dropped the band in 2002. In the years following, the band has attempted to work with a number of independent labels and record producers.
Blues Traveler's latest album, Traveler's Blues, was released in July 2021, and was nominated by The Recording Academy for Best Traditional Blues album in the 2022 Grammy Awards.
History
Formation
The genesis of Blues Traveler was as a high schoolgarage band formed in Princeton, New Jersey in the mid-1980s. Harmonicist, singer and guitarist John Popper and drummer Brendan Hill formed a group they called The Establishment (later renamed Blues Band) with Hill's brother on bass and a rotating roster of guitarists. The band produced a few cassette tapedemos. In addition to some original songs, their repertoire included upbeat covers of "Gloria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
The group added guitarist and football player Chan Kinchla. Although he was a promising athlete, Kinchla decided to commit to playing music instead after a knee injury. Popper met bassist Bobby Sheehan and the two became good friends, with Sheehan becoming the new bass player for Blues Band in 1987.[1]
The quartet held a basement jam session (later christened The Black Cat Jam) which spawned the core grooves for several songs on their first album. A black cat happened to be nearby, and the group took this as a sign and adopted the Black Cat as their mascot figure.
The group changed their name to Blues Traveler, taking the latter part from the name of the primary demon in the film Ghostbusters, Gozer the Traveler.[1]
Early years
After graduating from Princeton High School and moving to New York City, Popper, Hill, and Sheehan enrolled in the music program at The New School while Kinchla attended New York University. Blues Traveler began playing gigs along the New York-area club circuit, sometimes nightly;[1] the most prominent contract was playing Wednesday nights at a club called the Wetlands.[2][3] Another bar, The Nightingale, was a regular gig, and later became the setting for the song "Defense and Desire".[4][5]
The group shared an apartment on Bergen Street[3] in Brooklyn, New York, along with their high school friend, singer Chris Barron.[2][6] A second band that Popper and Hill founded, called The Trucking Company, soon became The Spin Doctors with Barron as their frontman.[2] The two groups would often share the stage, playing non-stop concerts of multiple sets.[5] Their first show together was at a Columbia University fraternity party. During this time, Blues Traveler acquired a devout follower, Gina-Z (subject of the band's song "Gina") who first became an unofficial "band mom" and later a tour manager, and is involved with the group's business to the present day.[7]
At one New York show they were discovered by an A&M Records talent scout, Patrick Clifford, and the band signed their first recording contract. By 1990 all members had dropped out of college classes.[6] The group also attracted the attention of David Graham, son of the world-famous concert promoter Bill Graham, and David Graham became the group's manager. Blues Traveler then started a relentless touring schedule, expanding their reach up and down the east coast.
Around this time, the mainstream national audience was exposed to Blues Traveler by television hostDavid Letterman,[8] who has introduced them as "[his] favorite band". The band has since made more appearances on The Late Show than any musical artist. Letterman's band leader Paul Shaffer has played on a number of Blues Traveler recordings.
In 1992, the group founded the H.O.R.D.E. festival as an alternative to others such as Lollapalooza, along with other bands such as Phish and Spin Doctors. Blues Traveler began recording their third album, Save His Soul. Recording was temporarily interrupted by John Popper's motorcycle accident, although the band resumed touring shortly thereafter with Popper in a wheelchair.[8] Two singles were released from the album, "Defense & Desire" and "Conquer Me", which reached No. 34 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Mainstream breakthrough
The band's fourth album, titled four, was produced by the team of Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson and released in late 1994. The upbeat pop single "Run-Around" became the group's first chart hit followed by "Hook". "Run-Around" won a Grammy Award and broke a record for most weeks on the chart.[10]
Blues Traveler appeared at Woodstock '94 and later became an opening act for The Rolling Stones. The band played on the 1995 season premiere of Saturday Night Live as a last-minute replacement for Prince. They were featured in an episode of the sitcom Roseanne, and later recorded the show's theme song for its final season. The 1996 comedy film Kingpin featured the group playing their song "But Anyway" during the closing credits.
The double live album Live from the Fall was released in 1996. It featured recordings from the band's autumn 1995 concerts and showcased the strength of the band's live performances.
The next studio album, Straight On till Morning, also produced by Barbiero/Thompson, was released in 1997. It achieved platinum status, reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but did not perform as well as four. The single "Carolina Blues" peaked at number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
By the end of 1998, the band had prepared a concept album called The Sun, The Storm and The Traveler, based on Aesop's fable of The North Wind and the Sun, and they planned to record it after a recess in the fall of 1999. That summer, John Popper had emergency heart surgery due to artery blockage, forcing the band to cancel their annual July 4Red Rocks shows at the last minute.
During the hiatus, Popper released a solo album with a backing band consisting of drummer Carter Beauford and members of the group Cycomotogoat.
On August 20, 1999, Bobby Sheehan was found dead in his New Orleans, Louisiana home, where he had been recording music with some friends the night before. Sheehan's death was ruled an accidental drug overdose, with cocaine, Valium, and heroin found in his system.
The remaining members of Blues Traveler convened and agreed that Sheehan would have wanted them to continue as a band. Auditions for a new bassist were held in concert, and included Chan Kinchla's younger brother Tad, who was unanimously determined to be the best choice for the role. Additionally, the band also auditioned for a permanent keyboardist -- an action Sheehan had often urged. In January 2000,[11] Ben Wilson of the jump blues band Big Dave & the Ultrasonics was chosen, and has since become a central contributor to the band's songwriting.
The band discarded their concept album material, instead releasing a smaller online EP, Decisions of the Sky: A Traveler's Tale of Sun and Storm, and went to work collectively composing a new set of songs with the new lineup. The resulting album was Bridge, which had the working title Bridge Outta Brooklyn as a tribute to Sheehan (with both the acronym B.O.B. and his nickname "Brooklyn Bobby"). The songs "Girl Inside My Head" and "Just for Me" received airplay, but the album's sales fell somewhat short of expectations.
In 2007, Blues Traveler released the album Cover Yourself, a "best-of" album of previously released songs re-recorded and reinterpreted with acoustic instrumentation. It was released October 30, 2007, through Columbia/Red Ink Records.[13] They did a national tour, with New Jersey-based singer-songwriter Lisa Bouchelle as opening act. After the tour John Popper and Lisa Bouchelle recorded the song "Only The Tequila Talking", which was released on her album Bleu Room with a Red Vase in 2010.
Blues Traveler appeared at the 2008 Lollapalooza festival. At their June 2008 shows, the band debuted new songs off their new album North Hollywood Shootout . The album, which features a guest appearance by Bruce Willis in the track "Free Willis (Ruminations From Behind Uncle Bob's Machine Shop)", released in August 2008.
2010s
In March 2012, Blues Traveler released a double-disc compilation titled 25 on Hip-O Records; the album commemorates the band's silver anniversary and includes their hit singles, new covers, and previously unreleased B-side material. It peaked at No. 49 in Canada.[14] The following studio album, Suzie Cracks the Whip, was released on June 26 of that year.[15]
In September 2013, Blues Traveler signed with Las Vegas-based management firm, UD Factory.[16]
On April 7, 2015, the band released their twelfth studio album, Blow Up the Moon which peaked at No. 29 on Independent Albums and No. 47 on Top Rock AlbumsBillboard charts.[17] As part of the album's promotion album, Blues Traveler released a music video using Rockstar editor in Grand Theft Auto V on September 14, 2015.[18] The music video features JC Chasez and 3OH!3. In 2016, Blues Traveler made a cameo appearance in the film The Meddler.[19] On December 7 the group released a cover version of "Go Tell It on the Mountain".[20]
In April 2017 the band announced a five-week U.S. tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group's formation.[21] In May of the same year, social posts, and a video piece on Keyboard Magazine confirmed the band was in the studio in Nashville recording with record producer Matt Rollings.[22] The album Hurry Up & Hang Around was released on October 12, 2018, through BMG.
2020s
On June 7, 2021, Blues Traveler announced a new album to be titled "Traveler's Blues" and released a two sided EP with the songs that would be featured on the new album.[23] The EP contained songs "Funky B*tch" & "Ball and Chain" which Features Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. The full album would be released the forthcoming month.
Blues Traveler allows and encourages fans to record and trade live performances,[25] provided that no money changes hands and no profit is made. The band has also given permission for live fan-made recordings to be hosted on websites such as Live Music Archive and eTree.org. Recordings available there span from 1986 through the present day.
On more recent tours, they sell recordings of that very night's performance. Attendees can pre-purchase a copy of the show until 30 minutes into the performance and then pick up the CD after the show.
Independence Day shows at Red Rocks
Every year since 1994, with the exception of 1999 (due to John Popper's health) and 2020 (due to COVID-19), Blues Traveler has headlined a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on the American Independence Day, July 4. The band sometimes plays two consecutive nights, starting on July 3.
This tradition started in 1992 when Blues Traveler was opening for The Allman Brothers Band at the venue for two nights, July 3 and 4. The next year, the band booked the HORDE festival to play there on Independence Day, and in 1994 the current tradition began in earnest.
These shows attract fans from all over the United States. The band frequently debuts new songs and brings back older songs which have fallen out of rotation.
The 2003 Independence Day concerts were recorded for a home video and a live album release.
