Jam Central Station 07.31.09: Blues Traveler

Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 07.31.2009

With a Grammy, a handful of radio hits, and about 20 years under their belt, Blues Traveler has built a strong fanbase and a great reputation. But how exactly did a few guys from New Jersey help launch an entire new era of jam music?



Hope everyone here is having a good weekend. Before I get started, I have a favor. Anyone who is reading this who happens to know me, do me a favor. If I ever turn down an opportunity to go to a Dave Matthews Band concert, no matter what the reason, please kick me. My brother called me Wednesday at about 5:30, saying that he had a pair of tickets that I could have for DMB up at Blossom Music Center, near Cleveland. It would've been about a 2 hour drive for me, getting me into town hopefully just in time to catch the show. I turned it down, since I'm in Indianapolis this weekend for two shows of DMB at Deer Creek, and I didn't feel like driving all the way up there at the last minute. Anyways, I haven't checked out the setlist yet (I like keeping myself in the dark about the tour until I see the band, so I don't know what to expect), but I just found out that, along with the tickets, a friend of my brother's could have gotten me backstage. Seeing as DMB is my favorite band, the fact that I missed the opportunity to get backstage is very, very frustrating.

Enough of my pity party. This week, let's take a look at a band that was a major part of launching the jam band resurgence of the last 20 years, a band with everyone's favorite harmonica player, Blues Traveler.



While Blues Traveler are best known for a couple of mid 90's hits, the band has had a long and successful career. By the time "Run Around" and "Hook" were hit singles, Blues Traveler had already released a handful of albums, toured the country multiple times, developed a large grassroots fanbase, and even started their own touring music festival. Most casual fans would know that John Popper is a harmonica virtuoso, but they might not realize just how much talent is in the band and how diverse their musical output has been. Over the past two decades, Blues Traveler has shown a tremendous amount of perseverance and staying power.

Blues Traveler got their start in the mid 80's in New Jersey while the members were all still in high school. After producing a couple of demo cassettes (and graduating), the band moved to New York and quickly became regulars on the New York club scene. The band established a reputation with their impressive multi-set performances, and began touring up and down the east coast. Popper in particular became well known for his harmonica skills, and would wear a vest on stage with a variety of different harmonicas used for different songs. Like so many other "jam bands," Blues Traveler's liberal taping policy along with an active tape-trading community allowed fans to hear the band before they ever came to town, and that helped increase their popularity. They signed with A&M Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1990.

Blues Traveler didn't get any mainstream success, but college radio picked up on the band's unique sound. They quickly released their second album, Travelers and Theives, again to little mainstream fanfare. Travelers and Thieves was notable, however for a guest appearance by Gregg Allman. Their first taste of real mainstream success came when late-night host David Letterman had the band on his program, calling Blues Traveler his "favorite band." In 1992 the band launched the first H.O.R.D.E. tour, bringing long time friends the Spin Doctors with them, along with more established artists like Phish and Widespread Panic. They released Save His Soul in 1993, which was their best selling album up to that point and included the song "Conquer Me," which got limited radio play. During the summer of 1994, H.O.R.D.E. continued to grow, featuring the legendary Allman Brothers Band along with an up-and-coming Sheryl Crowe.

All of that changed for the band with the release of four in September of 1994. Blues Traveler suddenly went from a small band on the club circuit to Grammy-winning superstars. "Run Around" was a hit on just about every radio station, and "Hook" wasn't far behind. Friends of the band Warren Haynes (from Gov't Mule) and Paul Shaffer (from the David Letterman Show) made guest appearances on the album. Despite having the popularity to begin touring larger venues by themselves, they continued the H.O.R.D.E. tour, bringing along artists like The Black Crowes and the Dave Matthews band in 1995. The band's popularity continued to grow, backed up by their live shows along with TV appearances such as Saturday Night Live. They capped off their success by winning the Grammy for Best Rock Performance.

While radio success after four was limited, the band kept going strong. 1997 saw the band release Straight On Till Morning, along with an very short version of H.O.R.D.E. that included Primus and Neil Young. sold well, but it didn't come close to matching the success of four. They held the final version of H.O.R.D.E. in 1998, featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Barenaked Ladies, Paula Cole, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. After 1998, however, the band began to hit difficulties. They were forced to cancel their annual Fourth of July show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado when John Popper had to have emergency heart surgery. Then, in August 1999, bassist Bobby Sheehan died of an accidental drug overdose. The band quickly regrouped, adding Chan Kinchla's brother on bass along with a new keyboardist, Ben Wilson. The band returned for a full tour in the summer of 2000, and released Bridge in 2001. While the band went back to playing primarily theatres, the success that they had in the mid 90's had allowed the band to be more creative musically without worrying as much about recapturing their earlier mainstream success.

Since being dropped by A&M after Bridge, Blues Traveler has released a number of independent albums. All have had limited commercial success, but the dedicated fanbase that the band has built has allowed them to continue to experiment with whatever musical direction they choose. They've also released a handful of live albums and an all-acoustic album of some of their more well-known songs called Cover Yourself. In the early 00's, Popper underwent gastric bypass surgery, and has since lost a very significant amount of weight. The band continues to maintain a rigorous touring schedule, including prominent spots on the summer festival circuit.

Blues Traveler will never be confused for the top-tier of jam bands such as The Grateful Dead, Phish, The Allman Brothers Band, or even String Cheese Incident. However, the resurgence in jam music over the past 15 years or so can be followed almost directly to Blues Traveler's decision to create H.O.R.D.E. Their musical legacy is impressive, but their role in launching the jam band wave that started in the early 90's and that bands like Phish and the Dave Matthews Band are still riding today makes their impact on the scene immeasurable. The H.O.R.D.E. Tour gave a much wider audience an opportunity to experience artists like Phish (who was primarily playing clubs and theatres in the early 90's), Gov't Mule, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and The Dave Matthews Band. By the mid 90's, H.O.R.D.E. had become established as an event where, even if you didn't know many bands on the bill, people wanted to be a part of it. The festival had run it's course by 1998 (when The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the major draws of the festival), but the influence of the tour lives on through the careers of so many of the artists that got their first major exposure there.



A great version of "Hook" from the 98 H.O.R.D.E. Tour:



Ziggy Marley joins Blues Traveler for a version of "No Woman No Cry"



A really old Phish video from the 1993 H.O.R.D.E. Tour



Here's Bob Weir and Ratdog from last weekend's Gathering of the Vibes



Not a great video, but I didn't want to miss up an opportunity to put up some Crosby, Still, and Nash from GotV



And for some reason I always come back to the Pink Floyd covers. Here's Interstellar Overdrive from GotV





Al Schnier Blogs After GOTV Death

Al Schnier of moe. had quite a bit to say after a 29 year old was found dead at this year's Gathering of the Vibes festival. While no official cause of death has been determined, the death has been linked to the "nitrous mafia" that rears its head at just about every jam music festival. Schnier, who has often been vocal about the fact that he does not use any drugs, had this to say on his blog:

secondly, I need to make it known that nitrous is not welcome @ moe.down. the nitrous mafia is not welcome @ moe.down. small, independent dealers are not welcome. drug trade is not welcome @ moe.down. if you are targeting our event, simply as a market to prey upon, stay home. you are not welcome. DO NOT COME TO MOE.DOWN TO SELL DRUGS.*
moe.down has always been envisioned as a family reunion for moe.rons far & wide. it is an annual event in which family & friends can come together & enjoy friendship & music, & celebrate casually & safely in a peaceful place.
as the festival has grown, we've strived to keep moe.down a safe, friendly atmosphere that is still a good family environment. we will continue our efforts to make moe.down a good place.
As a Rothbury attendee for the past two years (and since I have many friends who attend many more festivals than I do), I've heard my fair share about the "nitrous mafia" from Philly. While I've never had any problems with the nitrous dealers, I certainly would not want to be camping next to the constant hissing of the tanks, the shady folks yelling "hippie crack" all night, and the zombie-like nitrous users who roam the camps around these dealers. I don't have much of a problem with most of the drug dealers/users at festivals (I know it just comes with the scene), but I can easily see how being forced to camp near one of these dealers could really ruin a festival for someone. I also am not at all shocked that the nitrous dealers would be linked to a death at a festival. I think that they cracked down on the nitrous at Rothbury this year more than they did last year, but I think that nitrous needs to become more of a point of emphasis for security at festivals.

Farm Aid Lineup Growing

This year's Farm Aid, scheduled for October 4th in St. Louis, is beginning to fill out nicely. Along with mainstays Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp, Farm Aid has added Wilco, Jason Mraz, Jamey Johnson, and Phosphorescent. Tickets, starting at $39 for the all-day event, are on sale now.

Disco Biscuits Readying New Album

The Disco Biscuits have confirmed that their new studio album Planet Anthem is set for a January 2010 release. The band will be touring starting in September, and they will be releasing a series of three EP's of remixes, singles, and other good stuff prior to the release of Planet Anthem. A pair of new songs, "Konkrete" and "You and I," are available on the band's website.

STS9 Tour Shaping Up

After headlining this year's Day Out of Time festival at Red Rocks this week, STS9 has officially confirmed dates for their fall tour. The tour will run through most of October, with shows scheduled in Austin, Columbus, Indy, and Grand Rapids, along with other cities. Big Gigantic, Telepath, and Eskmo will each provide support over the course of the tour.

Franti Back on the Road After Appendectomy

After a series of cancellation's due to illness, Michael Franti is set to perform at Wanderlust this weekend, provided he gets medical clearance. Franti had been suffering form abdominal pain for weeks. When he finally went in for treatment, doctors discovered a ruptured appendix, which obviously needed to be removed. Due to the time he had been living with the ruptured appendix, he had a very large infection that had to be removed. While his recovery time will obviously be longer than normal, he's stated in his blog that he's looking forward to getting back on the road, especially to be a part of Wanderlust.



Once again, thanks for being here this week. Hopefully I'll have some great stories about DMB at Deer Creek for you next week. Until then, Jam On!