Blues Traveler's 35th Anniversary Tour Comes to Montclair

Published by New Jersey Stage

originally published: 07/21/2022

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Blues Traveler brings their 35th Anniversary Tour to the Wellmont Theater on Tuesday, October 4th. Throughout the tour, the seminal band has been performing a revival of songs that has spanned more than three decades and 14 hit albums – including the iconic four, which went six-times Platinum and spawned the definitive “Run-Around” (garnering their first Grammy Award).

Audiences can also expect to hear the band’s Billboard-topping smash singles like “Hook” and “But Anyway,” as well as their new, blues-infused renditions of some of their favorite classic blues songs, originally recorded by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Freddie King, Big Mama Thornton, and Little Willie John.

“Blues Traveler is not just a band; it’s a lifestyle,” said Guitarist Chan Kinchla. “Blues Traveler is our life’s work. It’s enabled us to do so many other things. This little tribe we built in New York during the late eighties has survived all the way through—plus or minus some dearly departed brothers and sisters. It’s empowered us to be creative, make people happy, and travel around spreading some good vibes. The longer we do it, the more we like it. Now, thanks to our latest album, people know we can actually play the fucking blues too.”

Blues Traveler was formed in 1987 by singer/harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, bassist Bobby Sheehan, and drummer Brendan Hill; the band was part of a revival of the extended jamming style of ’60s and ’70s groups like the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin.

Blues Traveler were on the vanguard of the jam band scene of the 1990s, the first of their generation to sign to a major label, and one of a handful to experience genuine commercial success when the naggingly catchy “Run-Around” went into the Billboard Top Ten in 1995. By that point, Blues Traveler had already carved themselves a place within the firmament of modern rock, earning a loyal audience through their sweaty improvs of blues-based rock and coalescing their peers by launching the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in 1992.

Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage

One of several Lollapalooza-inspired touring fests, H.O.R.D.E. illustrated the large audience for jam bands and helped push Blues Traveler toward the top of the charts with their 1994 album Four going platinum six times. They didn’t stay in the upper reaches of Billboard for long, but they never faded away. They worked steadily throughout the 2000s and beyond, sometimes experimenting — 2015’s Blow Up the Moon was littered with unexpected cameos — but always returning to the blues as their foundation, a debt underscored by the 2021 blues covers album Traveler’s Blues.

Tickets are available for purchase online. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 8:00pm. The Wellmont Theater is located at 5 Seymour Street in Montclair, New Jersey.