Blues Traveler’s Chan Kinchla On The New “Traveler’s Blues” Album, H.O.R.D.E. Tour, Megadeth, Guitar Influences, Future Plans & More
Around 30 years ago, the 4 original members of Blues Traveler, who had known each other since their early teens — John Popper, Chandler “Chan” Kinchla, the late Bobby Sheehan and Brendan Hill — gathered in the basement of Hill’s parents’ Princeton, New Jersey home, and the seeds were planted for a band who has released a total of 14 studio albums. Of those 14 full-length Blues Traveler studio releases, 4 of them have gone gold, 3 of them platinum and 1 of them 6-times platinum. Ultimately over the course of its illustrious career, Blues Traveler has sold more than 10 million combined units worldwide, and played over 2,000 live shows in front of more than 30 million people. “Run-Around” was the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history, also earning the group a GRAMMY Award within the “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals” category.
Last month on July 30, 2021, Blues Traveler — which consists of Popper, Kinchlas, Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson — released Traveler’s Blues, a collection of re-imagined and re-charged classics from The American Blues Songbook via Round Hill Records. The album features plenty of special guests, including Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’, Rita Wilson and John Scofield. As recorded in Nashville in late 2020, the group reteamed with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Matt Rollings (Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett) for this one. Its tour in support of Traveler’s Blues kicked off earlier this week in New York City venue The Rooftop at Pier 17 and is set to run through October 10, 2021, ultimately wrapping at Stratton, Vermont’s Stratton Mountain Resort.
On August 5, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with (the ultra-pleasant) Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla about Traveler’s Blues, the band’s long-term success, future plans, guitar influences, the impact the group had with its H.O.R.D.E. Tour and more. Additional information on Kinchla, Blues Traveler and Traveler’s Blues can be found by clicking here, here, here, here and here.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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