The group is bringing just as much excitement to the stage as they did when they started playing over three decades ago — four decades, if you count the basement floor where they started their band. Comprising four high school friends, Blues Traveler got their start as kids just jamming from home in New Jersey. Today, they stand on stage as the same original band members, aside from their original bassist, Bobby Sheehan, who died in 1999. Since then, the band brought on two more members, Tad Kinchla on bass and Ben Wilson on keys, joining John Popper on vocals and harmonica, Chan Kinchla on guitar and Brendan Hill on drums.
“In `99 tragically, our original bass player Bobby Sheehan passed away and so we kind of took some time,” says Hill. “We did auditions and we decided we were going to keep going. So in 2000, we hired Tad, our guitar player’s brother on bass, and then we also brought in a keyboard player, so that was kind of 'Blues Traveler Mach 2,' the second version. That was formed in 2000 and we’ve been the same group since, same five guys, and we’ve basically consistently toured for about 35 years now.”
After moving to New York City in 1987 from their hometown of Princeton, New Jersey, Blues Traveler began playing at bars across the city during a time that was beneficial for musicians.
“When we graduated high school, New York was just starting to get a good music scene,” says Hill. “They had obviously the punk era and there were a lot of great bands that came through, but the early ‘80s was kind of a lack of live music because they passed the Cabaret Law where you had to get special license to have a band. So when we moved to New York in ’87, it was the year they repealed the Cabaret Law and basically every little bar and restaurant, or anyone with an alcohol license, could have a band, so we had hundreds of places we could play and places who were looking for music, so it was just a wonderful time. A lot of bands came out of that New York scene. We were fortunate in the timing."
That time in the Big Apple was instrumental to the group's formation, according to Hill.
“We went into the New York scene and started playing these little bars and learned how to play to a crowd and get them jumping around, dancing and encouraging them to come back," the drummer says. "We had a lot of Grateful Dead influence so we loved to change our sets every night and do long, extended jams. I think with that kind of base we started making our own scene, and that scene grew and grew.”
Blues Traveler were well regarded among New York musicians and were highly influential in the jam band scene. The band put out their first record in 1990 and went on to the national spotlight.
“In 1992, there were a lot of other bands who were kind of like-minded like Phish and Aquarium Rescue Unit and Widespread Panic and Spin Doctors,” says Hill. “So together with those other four bands we put together the H.O.R.D.E. Music Festival, and that was kind of a traveling circus — a music festival — where we went up and down the East Coast the first year, and then we started bringing it around the country. In that music festival, we had everybody from Neil Young, the Allman Brothers, we had King Crimson, Sheryl Crow, we had Lenny Kravitz, just hundreds of bands that were very eclectic. So it wasn’t just one style.”
The H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) Music Festival proved a huge success for Blues Traveler and the bands involved, running for seven consecutive years and solidifying their position in the current music scene. Their style, which Hill used to call “hippie hardcore,” has mellowed a bit, though they still love to improvise and get people dancing.
“We grew up with the influences of every kind of ‘80s kid,” says Hill, “which was like The Police, the British Invasion [bands], The Who, The Clash, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Grateful Dead, Santana, the Allman Brothers, all those kind of big, iconic bands that were playing in the ‘70s and ‘80s, those were our kind of influences. So we took all that and kind of formed our own style.
“It was a little bit of hippie music, a little bit of rock, British Invasion, a little bit of pop. And John is an amazing harmonica player, so we had that unique sound right off the bat. Instead of having a lead guitar as the only lead instrument, we had a harmonica, which was kind of cool, that sort of set us apart.”
“We went into the New York scene and started playing these little bars and learned how to play to a crowd and get them jumping around, dancing and encouraging them to come back." – Brendan Hill
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The band has maintained its level of excitement, though, even after 35 years of touring. Hill calls the band members “road dogs,” taking breaks from touring only for life events and holidays — like this year’s Halloween because Popper wanted to be able to spend the holiday with his daughter.
“We’ve stuck together, put out a bunch of records,” Hill says. “This latest record, Traveler’s Soul, is our 15th record and we just got the vinyl today, which we’re really excited because it’s really nice to see your record in kind of the format we all remember back in the day.”
Famous for ‘90’s hits “Run Around,” “Hook” and “Mountains Win Again,” all of which became radio favorites thanks to their MTV videos, Blues Traveler hit national charts in the early 1990s and have been making music ever since. Their 2021 album, Traveler’s Blues, nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album, is their take on a range of blues songs old and new.
The second part of this album, Traveler’s Soul, was just released on Nov. 3, and has the band eager to share some new tracks on their setlist never before played live. Along with these added songs, the band is looking forward to opening its shows with an artist who inspired them from the very beginning.
“This tour is kind of fun ‘cause we are bringing out Jono Manson,” says Hill. “There was a band called The Worms back in New York and he was the singer — or one of the singers — and guitar player, and he was kind of the head guy. He was kind of our mentor. We learned so much from him and he’s still rockin’ out.
“John Popper and he just did a record together this past spring and we decided it’d be great if he came on the road with us and opened up for us. So it’s like having your mentor on tour with you. We wanted to put him in front of our audiences 'cause he’s such an amazing guitar player and singer and storyteller, so that makes this tour really special.”
