Blues Traveler Biography

In 1987, Blues Traveler, an American blues, rock and jam band was formed under the moniker, The Establishment, by John Popper, a harmonicist, singer and guitarist and drummer Brendan Hill from Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. The band’s earliest releases were in the form of cassette tapes featuring original songs as well as covers, including Van Morrison’s “Gloria.” The band began jamming regularly and built a repertoire of songs before moving to New York City and performed on the club circuit, making a name for themselves as relentless live performers. With a line-up consisting of Popper, Lee, guitarist Chan Kinchla, and bassist Bobby Sheehan, the band signed with A&M Records who released their self-titled debut album in 1990, and their subsequent album “Travelers & Thieves” in 1991. Following a dangerous motorcycle accident, lead-man Popper was unable to perform for months. However, he returned to release “Save His Soul,” the band’s third studio album. In 1994, the band’s fourth album “Four” represented a mainstream breakthrough for Blues Traveler, despite its poor sales. The 1995 Grammy Award winning single “Run-Around”, taken from the album, became one of the year’s most popular and best-selling singles and catapulted the album “Four” to popularity. Following the release, the band played at ’94’s Woodstock Festival and opened for the Rolling Stones. In an attempt to capture the magic of the band’s live performances, they released a double album titled “Live from the Fall” in 1996, followed by their fifth album in 1997, “Straight on Till Morning.” Bassist, Bobby Sheehan was found dead in his home with cocaine, valium and heroin in his system, deemed an accidental suicide, in 1999. He was eventually replaced by Kinchla’s younger brother Tad. Along with new keyboardist Ben Wilson, Blues Traveler released an EP entitled “Decisions of the Sky: A Traveler’s Tale of Sun and Storm”, followed by their sixth album “Bridge” in 2001. Having moved labels from A&M to Sanctuary Records, the band released “Truth Be Told” in 2003, followed by another live album “Live on the Rocks” the following year. Blues Traveler subsequently released the Jay-Bennett-produced “Bastardos!” in 2005, a cover album of their own songs “Cover Yourself” in 2007, “North Hollywood Shootout” on the label Verve Forecast, and in June 2012, the group’s 11th studio album “Suzie Crack the Whip.”

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