Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla loves his rock shows.
Even when he’s exhausted at home after a long tour, he yearns to hit the road again.
“The last year was really busy for us,” the enthusiastic Kinchla said. “We have been off for a couple of months. I’m always ready for a break, but when I get a month off, all I want to do is a rock show.”
Blues Traveler will do just that 8 p.m. Monday, May 13, at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson.
So, what can fans expect?
“We knock the dust off, usually,” he said with a laugh.
“We’ll play the hits. We write the set the day of, we mix it up a little bit — mix up some older songs, new stuff off of our soul record we just did, some covers. We just try to have fun with it. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. Everybody is getting on the same page and it’s kind of a communion. We try to keep it light and fun and make it a joyous thing.”
This spring is quiet for Blues Traveler, but touring will pick up in the summer and fall; many of the details he couldn’t release yet.
In between gigs, Kinchla pursues side hustles, like W4rhors3, “a fantastic rock band.”
In W4rhors3, Kinchla sings and plays guitar, with bassist/vocalist Paul Ill, drummer/percussionist Wally Ingram, and on keyboards, synths and “robot noises and vox bang bang,” Maxwell Butler. The band members have performed with the likes of Bob Weir, Timbuk 3 and Sheryl Crow.
“I know so many touring musicians, professional musicians around LA,” he said. “We’re always busy in the summers and we sit on our (butts) in the winter. W4rhors3 is me and a bunch of great local musicians. We do mostly originals and we have an album coming out this year.
He also explores his singer-songwriter side, with smaller gigs around Los Angeles.
“I’ve been writing so many songs on my acoustic here,” he said. “I thought I should do some acoustic sets. I apologize to everyone. ‘Thank you for being there for me, learning how to sing.’”
Music is Kinchla’s longtime love. When the 54-year-old Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, native was growing up, he received a guitar from a friend.
“My childhood friend had a guitar,” he said. “I went over there, picked it up and started playing it. I thought, ‘I like this.’ I was just a kid. I’d play any Beatles. I would just go over his house after school — not to play with him, just his guitar. After a couple of weeks, he gave me the guitar.”
He attended Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, where he started playing guitar with future Blues Traveler singer John Popper in 1986.
While there, the band gigged in New York City. Upon graduation, they moved there and played at dive bars until they were signed by A&M. Kinchla’s brother, Tad Kinchla, now plays bass in Blues Traveler.
During its career, Blues Traveler has played more than 2,000 concerts in front of more than 30 million people. Its song “Run-Around” was the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history, which earned them a Grammy for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals.
Blues Traveler’s 2021 effort, “Traveler’s Blues,” was nominated for a Grammy in the category of “Best Traditional Blues Album,” bringing its 35-year journey full circle. A companion piece, “Traveler’s Soul,” hit stores in 2023.
“I’ve always loved music,” he said. “Music is one of those things. It’s an intangible old magic. You can’t really describe why something moves you. You know it when you feel it.
“I’m fascinated by what reaches me emotionally and my spirit. It takes you away. It’s a very spiritual thing. I try to stay in touch what that side. Music is a great way to access it. It’s just fun. Live shows — you can’t re-create that on the internet.”
Blues Traveler w/Blackbird
WHEN: 8 p.m. Monday, May 13
WHERE: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $39.50
INFO: rialtotheatre.com
