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Blues Traveler

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Blues Traveler
OriginPrinceton, New Jersey
Years active1983 – present
MembersJohn Popper
Chan Kinchla
Tad Kinchla
Brendan Hill
Ben Wilson
Past membersBobby Sheehan

Blues Traveler is an American jam band from Princeton, New Jersey. Currently, the group is led by harmonica virtuoso John Popper (vocals, harmonica) along with Chan Kinchla (guitar), Brendan Hill (b. March 27, 1970, in London, England, UK) (drums), Tad Kinchla (b. February 21, 1973, in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A.) (bass) and Ben Wilson (b. November 17, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.) (keyboards). Tad Kinchla and Ben Wilson joined the band following the death of original bassist Bobby Sheehan in 1999 of a drug overdose in New Orleans.

Overview

While Blues Traveler is best known among fans for their improvisational live shows, the general public is most familiar with the group from their fourth studio album Four. Released in 1994, the two singles "Run-Around" and "Hook" gained mainstream radio popularity.

Blues Traveler's subsequent releases were not as successful as the quintuple platinum sales of Four, though the band has maintained a loyal fanbase from the beginning of their career. Their albums with A&M in the later 1990s include Straight on Till Morning and Bridge.

The group signed with Sanctuary Records and released Truth Be Told on August 5, 2003. Their latest album, ¡Bastardos!, was released on September 13, 2005 by Vanguard Records.


Sheehan's untimely death in 1999 and Popper's struggle with obesity put a damper on the group's success, and A&M dropped the band after low sales of their 2001 album Bridge. However, the band took this transition period as an opportunity to start in new directions musically. Popper, who at one point weighed in at a dangerous 420 pounds, had gastric bypass surgery in 2000 and is no longer obese.

Concert recordings

Blues Traveler's fanbase includes a subculture devoted to recording and distributing live shows. This is legal, as stated in the band's taping and distribution policy,[1] as well as encouraged by the band members themselves, 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 the Live Music Archive. Recordings available there span from 1986 through the present day.

Trivia

  • Blues Traveler shared stories of their evolution as a band on the VH1 television program Behind the Music.
  • The band appeared in a 1995 episode of the sitcom Roseanne, as the former band of character Dan Conner. Later, the band recorded the theme song for the show.
  • Blues Traveler appeared as an Amish band in the film Kingpin John Popper also appeared as the announcer at the National Bowling Stadium to kick off the Reno Open.
  • Blues Traveler appeared as themselves in the movie Blues Brothers 2000. They also appear on the soundtrack with the song "Maybe I'm Wrong".
  • On September 19, 2005, Blues Traveler played their cover of Beetlejuice's song "This is Beetle" on the Howard Stern radio show.
  • Blues Traveler's song "The Mountains Win Again" has been featured in a series of Busch Beer commercials in North America.
  • Clips of Blues Traveler's music was included in a NASCAR game for the Sony Playstation (PSX).
  • John Popper played harmonica on the collaboration of the cover song "Tuesday's Gone" on Metallica's Garage Inc double disc.
  • The Song "Dog Train", written by Sandra Boynton and recorded by Blues Traveler for Boynton's album "Dog Train", has been used in a series of commercials promoting the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.
  • Blues Traveler was featured on VH1's I Love the 90s.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Miscellaneous

Notes

  1. ^ Blues Traveler's recording policy
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