More than 30 years since their inception, the name “Blues Traveler” has never fit the Princeton, New Jersey-based band better than it does today. The group first hit it big in the mid-1990s with songs like “Run-Around,” “Hook”, and “But Anyway,” and has been on a journey filled with tragedy, rebirth, and rediscovery ever since.
Since the release of their latest album, Hurry Up & Hang Around, in October 2018, Blues Traveler has been touring on and off, rekindling their place in the music world behind John Popper’s power vocals and the band’s broader ability to jam. Ahead of the group’s Sunday show at the inaugural BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, CA, Ben Wilson—Blues Traveler’s keyboardist since January 2000—spoke to Live For Live Music‘s Josh Martin about his time in the band, the reception to the new LP, the seismic changes in the music industry, which acts he’s most excited to see in the South Bay, and more.
Live For Live Music: Blues Traveler has been around for over 30 years and you’re nearing 20 years as a member of the band. How would you describe this nearly two decades and the journey you’ve been on with the band over that time?
Ben Wilson: Epic (laughs). You’re kind of a nobody in Ann Arbor, Michigan and you’re working construction to pay the bills while you keep your band going and keeping your music dreams alive. And the next thing you know, you’re riding on a tour bus and playing Red Rocks in front of 10,000 people or whatever. And your mind is blown and it kinda just takes a while to figure out which end is up.
So I spent the first few years just really trying to be the best keyboard player I could be for the band, which, you learn so much from being around those guys, and then from a performance standpoint, from a recording standpoint, it was amazing. It was really fun as the journey went on to have more ownership because for the first couple, three years, both Tad (Kinchla) and I, we will always be the new guys, but we really felt like the new guys. And as time wore on and business changed and the record business changed and everything, it just felt really good to really feel like you were a full part of the band. In the end, it just comes to pure gratitude to be able to have been doing what I love to do for this long. It’s what I dreamed about when I was 12, 13 years old and I finally got there.
L4LM: Does it feel normal to you or does it ever feel normal to you?
BW: I mean, if I stop and think about it, it feels like, “What the hell?” But now it does. It’s 20 years. You do grow accustomed to the schedule, the availability that you have to your family when you’re home versus having to go on the road for three weeks and then come home and work a job. It’s nice to be able to go on the road for a month and a half and come home and not have to do anything at all for a couple of weeks before you go back out and do it again. That’s really what makes it such a great thing because although my son gets pissed off every time I’ve got to go get on a plane, when I’m home, I’m there when he gets up in the morning, I’m there when he comes home from school, and I’m there whenever he wants me. It’s just gratitude. It’s amazing to be in this position. That’s not to say it doesn’t feel like a job sometimes or that there aren’t things that come up that are a drag. But if I give myself a moment and just take a step back like, “Boy, holy shit, look at what I get to do. This is amazing!”
L4LM: Blues Traveler has toured in support of your latest album Hurry Up & Hang Around. How has it been received so far?
BW: We toured on it in the fall. We did a very quick little run in the spring. We got four or five tunes together to play live from the record, and those have been very well-received. It was a great experience making the record. It was the first time in several records that we had gone, got back to doing just the five of us writing the songs and the arrangements and all that, and then getting with a producer to fine tune everything. The previous few records had been a lot of co-writes, a lot of collaborations, which was awesome. We learned a lot about that. We learned a lot about ourselves, the way we process versus the way other people process. And this album felt really good to just get back to the five of us doing what we do, because our communication has gotten to the point now after 20 years-ish of the five of us being together, where we can be very efficient. That’s not to say we don’t argue or disagree, but Tad does one thing and next thing you know, I’m doing something and the next thing you know, Chan [Kinchla] is doing something, or whatever the order is, and it just makes things really, really fun.
L4LM: Was there anything in particular that you took from those collaborative experiences, on Suzie Cracks The Whip and Blow Up The Moon, that you brought to the experience with Hurry Up & Hang Around and are reflected in the new album?
BW: It’s a little bit of a return to some simplicity, I think. A lot of the bands that we worked with, particularly on Blow Up The Moon, they’re not “jam bands.” Sometimes, the problem with Blues Traveler is we all play pretty well, and so we get into a habit of relying on that as opposed to relying on the song. And when we were doing the stuff, particularly Blow Up The Moon, the other people we were collaborating with were actually there in the studio with us, it was a more like, “we’re going to highlight the points that we’re going to highlight, but we’re not going to rely on trying to get all riffy and choppy.” Re-emphasizing what is important in the band, really focusing on John’s voice—a lot of the things we already did in records previous. We always, in the studio, have tried to be relatively tight with our arrangements. We’ve tried to think of that as different than our live sound. But it was also realizing that we can trust those impulses to be a live band in the studio. And a lot of it was also just the respect that we got from a lot of these bands and songwriters that we worked with. There was a lot of mutual respect and, even after doing it for a long time, it feels good to get some of that affirmation that, “Okay, we’re doing this all right. This is cool.”
L4LM: Do you guys still need those moments, those affirmations? You’ve been through a lot of ups and downs over the years. What’s it been like riding that roller coaster and then coming out of it where you guys are now sort of returning to your roots as a songwriting outfit?
BW: Well, there have definitely been some ups and downs. It’s been some rough rides. You realize if Blues Traveler was starting right now, with all the talent that John has as a singles kind of writer, we probably wouldn’t have a career like that. We would be just strictly a jam band, which isn’t bad, but we wouldn’t have had that pop success. When I first joined the band, we were still at not quite the peak or the height of the powers, but we were still pretty far up there in terms of respect from the industry and management and promoters. And we maintain the respect as a live band, but when you don’t sell records, things change, and you kind of just dip below that threshold where you’re making noise with the general public. Your fans are still there for you.
Luckily, the Blues Traveler name cut real deep back in the ‘90s, which has helped us in the long run. But that was tricky to figure out how we were going to keep going, in light of the changes in the industry. And it was lean for awhile. There were some things that we had to deal with and it definitely feels good to get back to where we can go on tour and play clubs and theaters and sell some tickets, and then get in front of a festival where people know us and we can do our thing there. There’s a wide range of possibilities for us because of those hits, and thank God for that.
L4LM: What was it like working with Matt Rollings in Nashville on this latest record?
BW: It was awesome. I did have to tell him a couple of times. There’s a piece where it’s just me on piano and John on vocal, and he said we were going to cut that tomorrow. And I said, “Well, Matt, just so you know, you’re not allowed to play a single note on the piano tomorrow (laughs) because I don’t want to be thinking about what you’d play,” because he is just amazing. So there was definitely occasional intimidation and more in my mind, in my head, about thinking about what I’m playing versus what maybe he would play. And I’m not used to doing that in the studio. I usually am pretty confident and feel good about my ideas. And if I don’t feel good about them, I ask other people’s opinion. That was a little different for me, but just in terms of his ear, his respect for the band, his desire for it to be a real group kind of communal process, the ideas that he had from a keyboard perspective, the ideas that he had from a production and songwriting perspective, it was awesome. Nothing but love for Matt Rollings and his talent.
L4LM: As far as your Sunday set at BeachLife Festival is concerned, how and why did that come about that you guys joined on with this brand-new festival going on in Redondo Beach?
BW: Oh geez! They called our booking agency and they booked us. It’s funny, dude. When the new venue opens, when there’s a new festival, when these things are happening, it’s not uncommon for people to want to have Blues Traveler, in part because of that name recognition, the respect that we have as a fun live band, that we’ve built up over this 30-year career. And I think sometimes, we’re not a big name necessarily, but we’re like the good meat and potatoes for some of these festivals that we’re not going to headline necessarily, but you can stick us on a bill. We just did a show at KAABOO Cayman. I think one of the reasons why they put us on there is just that, that’s a band people can say, “Oh, Blues Traveler!” That’s a band, a name that they recognize. And I’m proud of the fact that we’ve been able to kind of maintain that level of respect and draw even after 30 years, and after 20 years of not having any real big hits. It’s a great feeling.
L4LM: How do you compare playing a festival show versus playing a club show or a theater show? Do you like playing festivals or do you have a preference between the two?
BW: They’re all so different. I mean, you get in front of Red Rocks, where there’s 10,000 people there and it blows your mind. But then you’ll be in a theater or a club sometimes, particularly a club, and it just feels, you know, it’s one of those maybe older places where the stage and the crowd are real close. And it just feels super intimate and super interactive with the crowd. So there’s just different things to get from each of the different types of venues that you play.
Playing outside at a festival, the sound is often really, really good, just because you’re out in the free air and things feel good out there and it’s just a different vibe. But when you get into a club or a theater, you just feel much more in tune with the crowd. Sometimes, a festival is more difficult to feed off the crowd because often the stage is higher, and there’s a big buffer between where the stage ends and where the crowd actually starts. And yeah, you can see this massive crowd out there, but you don’t necessarily feel this connection to them, but they’re there and you know they’re there so you’re still jacked. It’s kind of hard to differentiate what I prefer more. Just thank God they keep coming.
L4LM: You guys are playing Saturday in Yucaipa, but at least for Sunday, do you have any plans to check out the rest of the festival? And are there any other artists on the bill that you’re looking forward to either seeing or connecting with?
BW: Well, we did this tour with Ziggy Marley back in the day, man. I wonder if he’s around when we’re playing, it would be awesome if he showed up. That’d be killer.
L4LM: Just pull him on stage, right?
BW: Hell yeah! We did a really fun version of “No Woman, No Cry” at Red Rocks many, many years ago that people are still like, “Oh, can you do ‘No woman’? Oh wait. Ziggy’s not here? Forget about it” (Laughs). I saw Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel at LOCKN’ last year. That was awesome and super cool. So I might try to see that again. And then, I’ve never seen Grace Potter and I would love to see her perform. I hear she’s got a fantastic band and I know she’s fantastic. Living in Austin, Texas, I’ve seen Willie Nelson many, many times, but if I’m still around when he goes on, of course I’ll be hanging. We’ve hung out with his harmonica player on a number of different occasions. Him and John are friends. Big Head Todd & the Monsters, we’ve toured with many, many, many, many, many times, so I’m buddies with their keyboard player. You just never know what the artist village is, how far apart the stages are, and whether you can run across people or not.