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Themestream Contributor
Meet The New BluesTraveler
by Rex Rutkoski
October 25, 2000
URL:
http://www.themestream.com/articles/218375.html
BLUES TRAVELER INTERVIEW
...And the band played on!
Knocked down, but not out, by the death of a founder, a health scare to its frontman, and perhaps even challenged by changing musical times, Blues Traveler is forging ahead with a new version of itself.
"This is the Mach II version of Blues Traveler," says Chan Kinchla, the veteran guitarist of the band that has expanded from a quartet to a quintet. "It's different. I wouldn't say it's stronger. We had taken a year off leading up to the time Bob (Sheehan) passed away.
"We were a little burnt. We had reached levels of success beyond what we thought we would get to. We were touring hard. We took time off to get new influences and change things up."
Rotund frontman-harpist John Popper suffered chest pains and underwent angioplasty in July of 1999. A month later, bassist Sheehan was found dead in his residence.
Popper, who has since lost 120 pounds, has returned to a healthy direction and Blues Traveler quickly made a decision not to disband.
"We were very clear. A couple weeks after (Sheehan's death) we talked about carrying on," Kinchla says. "Something like that happened and it brought us closer. We realized we still wanted to play together. We didn't want to compound the tragedy of Bob's passing by breaking up the band too. He put so much time and energy into creating it. We decided to move forward, but not try to recreate the past. We decided if we would carry on we would do it differently than before."
The band found new management. "Now we've got a great team in place and we're doing what we should be doing: playing music."
Kinchla's brother Tad Kinchla came aboard as bassist and Ben Wilson was added as keyboardist. "Now there's new influences and the original members. It's very interesting to play again because there are new voices to communicate with. It's very fresh for us now, a lot of fun. It's still very recognizable Blues Traveler, but we've got a lot of influences as well."
Now the band moves forward, putting the finishing touches on a new album
to be released early next year, unveiling a new website (www.bluestraveler.com) with some interesting touches, and embarking on what they are referring to as a fan appreciation tour.
Sheehan's spirit lives on in Blues Traveler. "He always kind of led us in directions. He was very forceful in driving the band forward," Chan says. "We never would have gotten to where we were without his effort. He just provided this wild energy we miss, but at the same time it kind of lives with us. We talk about him all the time."
In eulogizing Sheehan at his funeral, Popper characterized him as the most underestimated musician in the band. "He was the conductor of Blues Traveler, the one who drove us," Popper said.
Popper brings his own strength to the mix, says Kinchla. "He is just one of a kind. He's just got that intangible personality. He feels things very passionately and expresses them very passionately and that transfers when people see him on stage. He has a beautiful voice and a gift for music."
Kinchla believes the new album is one of the strongest in Blues Traveler's body of work. "It's beautifully arranged, it's got a lot of really interesting things to listen to. With the keyboards there's a whole other voicing. There's a lot more groove in it, a lot more danceable and funk direction."
They worked for the first time with producer Matt Wallace and engineer Tina Shoemaker, who Kinchla says is the first woman ever to win a Grammy for production.
Blues Traveler is playing some of the material from the album on the fall tour and Kinchla says it is being well received. "The shows have been awesome, really fun. The new guys add a whole new flavor. They make our old songs that we have been playing for a decade fresh for us. It's really inspiring playing new material off the record too."
Kinchla insists that the band does not worry about where it might fit in to the current music scene. "We never tried to fit in. We've always just done what feels good to us," he says. We kind of let the scene come to us, not worry about the scene. There's no big plan. You can't try to mold yourself for the scene, but let the scene kind of come to you. That's what we've always done and will continue to do."
They hope to forge an even closer bond with fans through their revamped website, which provides tour dates, lyrics, photo and video archives and what is billed as one of the more interesting "Frequently Asked Questions" sections that ever existed.
The group plans to debut Blues Traveler Radio on the site, a feature where listeners can play their favorite Blues Traveler songs and hear band members' picks from their favorite artists. The site also is to include many other enhanced downloads with special contests, giveaways and information on upcoming webcasts. "It's awesome to keep up with fans," says Kinchla.
While the band completes its new album, fans will be able to hear the first recordings from the quintet via a four-song release called "Decisions Of The Sky -- A Traveler's Tale of Sun and Storm," which can be downloaded on several portals including www.bluestraveler.com. These songs will not be included on the album.
Road warriors, Blues Traveler still finds magic on the concert stage. "We love it. We've been off the road for a while. We love it so much we wanted to get out and play. It's beautiful to share moments live with people, sharing kind of the group moment. It's different every night. The fans are great. It's great just to see everyone singing along and all those smiling faces. It's an addictive feeling getting up front and bringing that much good will to a place."
Kinchla says he is proud that Blues Traveler has carried on the great tradition of communication with an audience. "That's the great thing about improvisational music. We created moments that happen only once and then move on. That kind of live communication is very precious and important. We're glad to continue that and add to that voice.
"We made some great records and very hopeful records at a time when music hasn't necessarily been leaning in that direction. I'm proud we've been able to rock so many shows for so many years and give so many people a moment of escape from whatever might be worrying them. That's the role I really cherish about being in the band."
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