The alternative rock band coming from Princeton New Jersey, the Blues Traveler, consists of singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla, and keyboardist Ben Wilson. They got their start in 1987 and are known for their improvisat... More
Blues Traveler Information
The alternative rock band coming from Princeton New Jersey, the Blues Traveler, consists of singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla, and keyboardist Ben Wilson. They got their start in 1987 and are known for their improvisational live shows and their songs, “But Anyway,” “Run-Around,” and “Hook,” which were all Top 40 hits. They have ten studio albums, including their self-titled debut album coming in 1990, three live albums, and two miscellaneous albums.
They formed as a high school garage band as The Establishment and recorded cassette tape demos of covers. In college, many members went to New York City’s The New School for music, but dropped out after being signed by A&M Records in 1990. It was their fourth album, 1994’s four, that gained them more attention and success. That year, they performed at Woodstock ’94 and opened for Rolling Stone. In 1995, they performed on an episode of Saturday Night Live and were featured in the TV show Roseanne and the film Kingpin.
1999 marked the death of original band member Bobby Sheehan. Chan Kinchla and Ben Wilson joined the band following Sheehan’s death and released their next album, Bridge, in 2001. Upon A&M Records reconstruction, the band signed with Sanctuary Records to release their album, Truth Be Told, in 2003. For ¡Bastardos!’ 2005 release, the band signed with Vanguard Records.
In the past few years, they have performed on VH1’s Behind the Music, A&E’s Private Sessions, Oh-Fest in New York, the NASCAR 2000 video game, and Lollapalooza in 2008. Their most recent album release came in 2008 with North Hollywood Shootout.
They are set to tour in support of the Barenaked Ladies this summer along with Big Head Todd & The Monsters. The tour kicks off July 6 at the Toledo, OH zoo, and will continue on across the U.S. throughout the summer.
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