Still Going Strong: A Conversation with Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla

There was a time when a harmonica solo could stop a festival crowd in its tracks, when jam bands ruled the summer circuit, and a song could stretch for nine minutes without anyone checking the time.

Blues Traveler came of age in that world — and helped define it.

Now, more than three decades after “Run-Around” became an chart-razing radio anthem, the New York-based band is still going strong and hitting on all cylinders. Tonight, the band will bring their enduring blend of blues, rock, and improvisation to Des Moines, sharing the bill with two other survivors of the ’90s alternative-rock boom: Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms.

It’s a lineup that doubles as a musical time capsule, but nostalgia is only part of the appeal.

Tonight will show concert-goers that some of the best music of the 1990s isn’t really coming back; it just never really left.

Blues Traveler guitarist and co-founder Chan Kinchla sat down with ListenIowa for a few moments prior to the band’s performance at Lauridsen Amphitheater in Water Works Park tonight to discuss the band’s history, making new music, and those pesky corn leaves of Iowa.

You’re on tour with Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms this summer. How is that going so far?
We’ve been out almost three months. It’s been a great summer. The bands get along great. The crowds have been fantastic, and it’s summertime, and all these bands have a lot of upbeat, fun songs. 

You’ve been in the game a while now, Chan. When you look out there in the audiences, what are you seeing these days?
Well, it’s it’s a gas because it is from 16-, 18-, and 21-year-old kids, who know all the words to the songs, to a bunch of old Deadheads, who know all the words to the songs. We’ve been around, like, three generations at this point. We’ve been lucky enough to have some signature songs that have carried on, and I think that’s really helped younger people know those songs and help them get into the band’s other stuff as well. So it’s just a blast. And, you know, the summertime vibe is so upbeat, and it’s just a great time to go see rock shows. Everyone seems to be in good spirits. I know we are.

You guys were like other bands when you began, slugging it out in clubs and smaller venues. Then you guys finally took off in the 90s. Big. What that was like to finally “make it?”
It was our fourth record that broke us, so we had already established a pretty solid touring base and were playing pretty big places by then. And we were kind of gonna build like the Grateful Dead model, you know, just build with live shows. And we kept making records as accessible and fun as we could, and were always looking to have some on the radio, but we certainly weren’t expecting to be top 10. And so that was just a blast. It gave us some great opportunities.

And sold some albums, too.
And sold a gazillion albums, which was fantastic, but also it was kind of an interesting mix of all this MTV, VH1, and radio, people coming for the singles with our fans who had been with us for years. And that was a fun matchup, too. But the whole thing was an amazing ride. And like I said, having some great signature songs that people know and still get played a lot today is really cool. 

What’s your position on making new music these days? A lot of other artists are past that point and rely solely on their back catalog.
We put a record out a new record in 2019, and then we did a great blues record in 2021 that got nominated for Grammy, so that was cool. We do bandy about the idea of doing another record. But doing a Blues Traveler record takes a lot of fate and just everything needs to fall into place. But in the meantime, I live in Los Angeles, so I have a side band, and I actually have a solo acoustic record coming out this winter called “Mr. Sunshine.”  I’m always writing songs, and Blues Traveler, for sure, will be putting out some new original music at some point when the fates conspire to give us the door. 

You and John (Popper, vocalist) have been at it for quite awhile together.
High school, yeah. 

Talk about that dynamic and working with him and just being able to look over there and see a familiar face every night.
You know, I think it’s helped us make it 40 years without any huge drama or breakups. We really grew up together, came of age together and moved to New York together. Our families all know each other, and we really are, at this point, kind of like family. So I think it helps. That really helps the whole machine run. Musically, there’s nothing like being on stage with a kick ass band where you have so many years of dialogue and history and understanding how each other plays. There’s something about that that you just can’t recreate. It’s kind of intuitive knowledge of what’s gonna happen with the music, and that’s something that’s very special. I’m very grateful for that. 

Speaking of New York, Friday is a solemn day with the anniversary of 9/11. Being New Yorkers, you probably remember that day better than most.
We were actually on the road, and I remember we were somewhere in Texas pulling into Houston or somewhere like that when that all happened, and I just remember getting off the bus and watching it all in a hotel lobby. We grew up driving across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, looking at the Twin Towers every day. And I lived in an apartment with a view of the Twin Towers. So that was a pretty shocking moment. But, you know, like I said, we shared so many things with the band together, and that’s one of the unfortunate things.

You’ve played the David Letterman Show, Red Rocks, and have gotten to do some of the coolest things a band can. At this point what’s left to achieve? Any bucket lists hanging around with unchecked boxes?
Well, we just got one this summer when we headlined the Hollywood Bowl, which, you know, for most musicians, that’s a very highlight experience. So it’s nice to know, even this late, that there’s bucket list things. And since I live in LA, now I get the bragging rights. (Laughs)

You guys have made a few stops here in central Iowa over the years. Any memories about our state that come to mind?
Oh yeah! I actually grew up going to farms by Clarence, Stanhope and Tipton, these little Iowa farm towns. That’s where my family had farms. I spent time on my Uncle Ray and Aunt Luella’s farm growing up, choking on corn dust, jumping from the top of the silos into the corn. And when you get lost in the cornfield, those leaves — you come out of there and you’re all cut up! (Laughs)