Keyboardist Ben Wilson chuckled when asked if he’ll receive a gold watch when marking his 25th anniversary with Blues Traveler in 2025. 

“It’s hard to believe I’ve been in the band for so long,” Wilson said. “When I had the chance to join Blues Traveler, I was so excited. I remember being in college when the band’s (self-titled) debut album came out (in 1990). I remember hearing those early songs and thinking, ‘Wow, what a cool sound.’ ”

That cool sound will be at Foellinger Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 13, when the Blue Monsters Tour rolls into town with Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd & The Monsters.

Brotherhood

Wilson is the latest hire by Blues Traveler. Stability, which is uncommon in the world of rock, is one of the many adjectives which describes Blues Traveler. Wilson became part of the group a year after Tad Kinchla signed on as bassist following Bobby Sheehan’s death in 1999.

The rest of Blues Traveler — vocalist-harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, and drummer Brendan Hill — are original members.

“There’s not many bands like Blues Traveler,” Wilson said while calling from Boise, Idaho. “Not many bands have what we have.”

It’s a revolving door for many acts, but the members of Blues Traveler keep it together partly due to how close-knit the band have been since forming in Princeton, New Jersey.

“Blues Traveler is like a family,” Wilson said. “Sure, there are disagreements and arguments, but we are good at resolving those things. We all have our idiosyncrasies, and we deal with them. We also have so much fun playing together.”

It’s a dynamic Kinchla has also noticed in his 25 years with the band.

“All of the guys in this band are good people,” Kinchla said. “I’ve known the guys in this band since I was in the fifth grade. It’s always felt like family and that makes a difference. It’s a totally different vibe than a gun for hire band. The cool thing is that we can say anything to each other. We’re as tight as we’ve ever been and there is no end in sight for this band.”

Ready to jam

When on stage, Blues Traveler enjoy playing the hits along with deep cuts.

“There’s something so cool about playing songs that fans sing along to since they know all the words,” Wilson said. “It’s a blast to watch fans be so enthusiastic when we play those hits.”

“Hook,” “But Anyway,” and “Run-Around” are some of the familiar tunes from the blues rock band. 

“We’ll blast you with those hits from the ’90s,” Wilson said. “But we’re not just about those songs.”

Blues Traveler have quite an arsenal of tunes, ranging from rock and blues to soul. They’re also an act adept at stretching out tracks as they jam. 

There haven’t been many hits from the band’s recent albums. However, Blues Traveler records from the 21st century are rock solid. 2005’s Bastardos!, 2008’s North Hollywood Shootout, and 2015’s Blow Up the Moon feature catchy, well-constructed tracks.

Then there are the covers, which are typically part of their sets. Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher,” Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick,” and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “Last Dance With Mary Jane” are examples of tributes paid to iconic recording artists by Blues Traveler.

“The covers are fun to play,” Wilson said. “We enjoy covers so much we’ve made covers albums so you know we’re really into it.”

On their 2021 album Traveler’s Blues they include a terrific version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and a fiery take on The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.”

Their 2023 album Traveler’s Soul is a loose and eclectic covers album. Blues Traveler’s winning covers of The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out,” TLC’s “Waterfalls,” and Deee-Lite’s “Groove Is in the Heart” make it worth experiencing.

“We had the greatest time making those albums,” Wilson said. “It’s not surprising for bands like ours to play covers since we were music fans before we became musicians.”

Blues Traveler mixes up their set each night. The band is focusing on its live show, but there is no new album on the horizon.

“Nothing is quite percolating yet,” Wilson said. “But we’ll have something out eventually.”

There is no need to rush. The Blues Traveler canon is deep. 

Each of the members works on other projects, but thanks to their deep connection, the odds are a Blues Traveler album filled with original compositions will drop eventually. 

Getting music heard

Blues Traveler have no problem stepping outside of the box. The band did just that with its quirky Santander Bank commercial a few years ago. Musicians shilling for corporate America were frowned upon a generation ago. After Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Madonna made big bucks by appearing or allowing their music be part of soft drink commercials.

“Commercials are now a way for your music to be heard,” Kinchla said. “It’s so hard to get on the radio these days.”

Blues Traveler had no problem appearing in a the Santander commercial playing their hit “Run-Around,” which won the 1995 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

“The thing we did for Santander was super-fun,” Kinchla said. “Doing funny stuff for a commercial is right in our wheelhouse. It doesn’t hurt us or the song for it to be in a commercial. I get why anyone would be attracted to that song.”

The journey continues

The seeds for Blues Traveler were planted in the clubs of lower Manhattan during the halcyon days of the mid-’80s. 

Kinchla recalled how he spent virtually every weekend as a high school senior with his bandmates checking out music in New York City. 

“It was a great scene,” he said. “It was us, the Spin Doctors, Joan Osborne, and Chris Whitley, just to name a few recording artists. We learned so much on that bar scene on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. That’s how we learned to be the live band that we are now. I learned so much in 1988 in New York. We wouldn’t have had the success we had if it weren’t for those early years in which we learned so much about being in a band.”

Kinchla can’t help but look back fondly at the Clinton era. 

“The ’90s were a blast,” he said. “It just wasn’t because we did well. It was a great era. There was a little more mystery. Today, everybody knows everything about everybody. Everything is on social media. During the ’90s, you had to make more of an effort.”

No member of Blues Traveler has voluntarily left the group, which is incredibly uncommon for a band that has been together for almost 40 years. The only departure has been Sheehan, who died due to a drug overdose. 

“The cool thing is that it’s been a great ride for the most part,” Kinchla said. “Losing Bobby was horrible and John has had his share of health issues and the guy is so accident prone. But for the most part, it’s been an amazing journey, and the best part is that it’s still going on.”