The image, from mid 1990s MTV, is indelible: The rock \u2018n\u2019 roll band Blues Traveler, with a bespectacled bear of a man out front, singing and playing harmonica with the speed (and melodic finesse) of a concert pianist. The songs: joyful, upbeat and organically optimistic.<\/p>\n
His name was, and is, John Popper, and three decades after \u201cRun-Away,\u201d \u201cHook\u201d and other Blues Traveler songs were in hourly rotation on the cable music giant, Blues Traveler is still on the road and enjoying a well-earned reputation as a dynamic live band.<\/p>\n
Blues Traveler is onstage Tuesday at the BayCare Sound, with fellow era-specific groups Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors.<\/p>\n
(Six degrees of separation: Popper was also a founding member of Spin Doctors, but departed to devote full-time to Blues Traveler.)<\/p>\n
Guitarist Chan Kinchla, who co-founded Blues Traveler with Popper, bassist Bobby Sheehan and drummer Brendan Hill, spoke with the Catalyst in advance of Tuesday\u2019s show.<\/p>\n
The road hasn\u2019t always been smooth for the blues band from Princeton, N.J.: Sheehan died of a drug overdose in 1999; Popper suffered a major heart attack and other serious health issues; and the band\u2019s label, A&M, dropped them when the hits stopped coming.<\/p>\n
And yet, here we are.<\/p>\n
Kinchla\u2019s younger brother Tad took over on bass, keeping it all in the family. Ben Wilson has been the band\u2019s keyboard player for 26 years.<\/p>\n
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St. Pete Catalyst: It\u2019s always said about Blues Traveler, \u201cthey\u2019re overcome tremendous adversity.\u201d With all that happened along the way, are you surprised the band still exists?<\/p>\n
Chad Kinchla: Certainly Bobby passing away, God bless him, many years ago was adversity.\u00a0 I think with any group of adults, there\u2019s going to be some health things, but generally John\u2019s been pretty healthy \u2026 we all have. Any time you\u2019re talking about a 40-year span with a group of people, there\u2019s going to be some adversity. For anyone. I think that\u2019s just life.<\/p>\n
For us, we know Bobby would want to keep going. He put a lot of heart and soul into creating Blues Traveler, and making it what it was.<\/p>\n
I guess the interesting thing is, a lot of our contemporaries from back then, they usually get back together after having at some point broken up, or stopped doing it for 10 years. And we\u2019ve kinda just kept at it the whole time without much drama. I think it\u2019s mainly \u2018cause we just love playing live. So the idea of just not going out and doing some rock shows seems like a waste of some time, you know?<\/p>\n
We were a high school band. We kind of grew up together, so I think there\u2019s a lot of ties that keep us together beyond just being in a band together. So I think any drama or contention between us, like a family you know you\u2019re going to sort it out, so we don\u2019t really over-react. I think that\u2019s what sometimes gets bands in trouble.<\/p>\n
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After the band got huge, was there any worry that John might go solo?<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve always been supportive. Me and Bobby did a side record, John\u2019s done side records. We have plenty of time to work on side projects. So \u201cgoing solo,\u201d I think it\u2019s more of a press-related thing, especially this day and age.<\/p>\n
That was never really an issue for us. And it never came up to take a year off, because we could just tour a little lighter some years \u2026 but we don\u2019t really work that hard! So to go out and play some rock shows and make a little money always seemed like a good idea to us.<\/p>\n
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Do you consider Blues Traveler a jam band?<\/p>\n
Sure! The jam band category is, or at least used to be, much more varied. I think jam band means bands that improvise a lot during their sets, with solos and transitions, and they change up the songs regularly. There are some bands that do it a lot more, especially changing around the sets and everything, than we do. We always change \u2018em up every night \u2013 we put a couple songs here and there.<\/p>\n
The difference is, we have some really big hits that, unlike most jam bands, we\u2019re kind of obligated to play. And it\u2019s not an obligation we don\u2019t like!<\/p>\n
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I know, you really enjoy playing \u201cRun-Around\u201d and \u201cHook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every time you play \u2018em, everyone goes nuts. It\u2019s fun!<\/p>\n
But we are definitely a jam band in that we improvise a lot, and the songs are a little different every time we play \u2018em. Because we\u2019re reacting to the environment and what the vibe is that night.<\/p>\n
When we started, the term jam band didn\u2019t exist. They called us neo-hippies, or stuff like that. It was us and Phish, Widespread Panic, Aquarium Rescue Unit and some other great \u2026 but also a lot of bluegrass bands and a lot of different types of improvisational music. So that\u2019s kind of the way we look at it.<\/p>\n
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There are a lot of great blues harp players. And obviously John can so that, but he does so much more. He\u2019s a melodic harmonica guy. It\u2019s a lead instrument. I think that\u2019s kind of rare.<\/p>\n
Well, he\u2019s a very singular musician, and he\u2019s a great singer too, of course. And he can really lean into some traditional blues.<\/p>\n
The funny thing was, his idol growing up was Jimi Hendrix. There were the traditional blues guys, but John was really trying to do what Jimi Hendrix did, on harmonica.<\/p>\n
And he loves all kinds of music. So he was never trying to copy the trad blues guys \u2013 he was trying to copy guitar players, and sax players, you know, Coltrane, Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. That was more what he was going for.<\/p>\n
One of the things about Blues Traveler, we love all kinds of music. Going all the way back, we weren\u2019t trying to be one thing. I think it\u2019s that eclectic blend of influences, along with improvisational music, which really makes what that jam band category is.<\/p>\n
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Why is live more fun than studio work? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different kind of fun. They\u2019re just so different. Live is just all in the moment, so mistakes are fun, exploring\u2019s fun. You\u2019re not really sure what\u2019s gonna happen, and it comes and it\u2019s just a transient moment. That\u2019s what makes it so special.<\/p>\n
The studio, you\u2019re really trying to craft something that\u2019s like a focused representation of the idea. And you\u2019re working on the arrangement. You know, it\u2019s coming through a little speaker for people to listen to, or earbuds. So it\u2019s a really different mode of expression than the live show with the lights and the sound and the crowds.<\/p>\n
As a result, live\u2019s more like a party. And the studio\u2019s more like the fun of working on a craft over time, and finishing it, you know? It\u2019s just a different vibe.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t necessarily try to re-create what we did in the studio, live. There\u2019s the melody, and the chord changes, and we\u2019ll kinda try to stick to that. But every song we do in the studio, we just come up with its own live version.<\/p>\n
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You encourage tapers, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n