Blues Traveler to perform in Punta Gorda

COURTESY PHOTO Blues Traveler plays Laishley Park Oct. 24. Diminutive Punta Gorda is in for a ground-shaking awakening on Saturday, Oct. 24, when the Downtown GetDown brings the internationally-acclaimed band Blues Traveler to town. The headliners will be preceded by a series of Florida-famous performers who will provide nonstop entertainment starting at 3 p.m. Live music will go on well into the night.

Brendan Hill, percussionist for Blues Traveler, said he’s looking forward to the event. “We’ve done a couple of downtown events this year — boosting up the economy in quaint little towns and reaching out to people. It’s about town pride and community,” he said. “I love the water and I love (historic) downtowns, so we’ll be checking it out,” he said.

There’s something magical about Blues Traveler. Its impromptu musical chemistry has created a following, likely rivaled only by followers of the Grateful Dead.

COURTESY PHOTO Blues Traveler travels to Punta Gorda Oct. 24. Blues Traveler fans have followed the performers’ every move, covering 2,000 live shows in front of more than three million people.

They follow Blues Traveler for the promise of euphoria that spontaneous jamming delivers.

Blues Traveler’s Saturday’s event will no doubt include performances reflecting its 2008 release, “North Hollywood Shootout.” The recording is a byproduct of the group’s signature jam sessions — unleashed in a recording studio.

“We recorded all the parts as we were working them out, and then built the songs from there,” said band member Chan Kinchla. “We’d find a cool little pocket and jam on it, or there’d be a drumbeat or a guitar part that was really happening, and we’d take the best part of that and use it as the foundation of the song,” he said.

“That was a completely new way of working for us,” Mr. Kinchla said, “but it was taking what we do live and bringing it into the studio.

“For a long time, we thought of the studio as a completely different creative process than playing live,” he said. “But this time, all the live improvisation we were doing in the studio inspired the songs.”

Mr. Hill agrees that the jam concept in the studio was a new approach to recording. “I think a combination of jamming and planning works well,” he said. It’s nice to be prepared because songs can be fully developed in the studio. We all like to write when we’re away from each other and then bring songs to the group.”

From garage band to stardom

Blues Traveler was born of humble beginnings in the form of a high school garage band in Princeton, N.J. The core group of what’s now an international sensation continues to live to jam.

When he first became involved with the group, Mr. Hill was 13 years old. Lead singer John Popper was the 16-year-old driving force who would take the lead in moving the group forward.

In the years following graduation, the group immersed itself into New York’s music scene, where listeners lapped up its acoustic adventures.

Its inspired performances placed Blues Traveler in the emerging jam band movement — a community that produced names such as Phish and the Spin Doctors.

Blues Traveler played in clubs 20 nights a month, Mr. Hill recalled. The band took to the road and earned a reputation as a tireless touring act and an enormous fan base up and down the East Coast before they’d even released an album, which was in 1990.

Twenty-two years after its first garage jam session, Blues Traveler continues its relentless exploration of new musical territory, incorporating the genres of blues, rock, folk and soul. The group’s inherent “segues” transport listeners from one musical experience to the next.

The formula works well for the band’s musicians, who tend to live by their own rules.

“We still do six to seven months of touring — about 120 shows a year,” Mr. Hill said. “We went out May 20 and will be done Nov. 7,” he said.

Mr. Hill’s home is in Seattle, with his wife and three children, ages 10, 8 and 3. The family holds down the fort while Mr. Hill tours with Blues Traveler. “My kids are resilient,” he said. “I definitely married the right woman. I’m lucky in my partner of choice.”

We do a record once every two years, so we’ll probably start writing and recording in the spring.”

Ever emerging and never the same, Blues Traveler seeks a perfect mix of music that, perhaps, unwittingly, keeps its followers on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the next great thing.

It seems that the members of Blues Traveler are in search of “band-actualization,” which keeps their music fresh, every concert, every recording, every time.

“We’re still trying to reconcile the different things we do, and cultivate what we’re individually good at, into something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts,” said Mr. Popper, the group’s lyricist and lead singer. “When we’re all playing and it’s working, it becomes this separate entity, and that’s still the thing that we’re chasing.”

Saturday in Laishley Park

The concert’s promoters say Saturday’s mega-music fest is “exactly what you’d expect from a concert in Tampa, Orlando or any big market,” said copromoter Nick Nemec.

An 8-foot chain link fence will surround the concert area at Laishley Park to protect the integrity of the paidconcert venue.

“We had to do it,” said Mr. Nemec. “There’s a serious investment involved. We’ve hired 31 security professionals — the same people who worked the Super Bowl in Miami.”

Indeed, the Downtown GetDown partners have made the preparations necessary for a serious day of fun.

The event starts at 3 p.m. Live music starts at 3:30 p.m. with the BoogieMen.

At 5:30 p.m., Low Rent performs, followed by The Greg Billings Band from Tampa at 7:30 p.m. (The Greg billings Band was the headline act for Downtown GetDown’s event earlier this year.)

The concert’s grand finale — Blues Traveler — is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. “They’re going to pull off 120 minute set,” said Zack Clark, the other promoter. “There will be fireworks and a phenomenal light show, with over 130,000 watts of light. It’s eight hours of quality entertainment for $25.”

To refresh guests, there will be namebrand beverages for $5, a beer bar, Jell-O shots and a plethora of food vendors — 24 vendors in all.

General admission is $25 in advance and $30 at the gate. Guests may bring folding chairs and blankets for their comfort.

There will be a VIP area with linen covered tables and umbrellas. VIP tickets are $125 per person. VIP seats are closest to the stage, with unlimited drinks and food.

A fireworks display will conclude the evening.

“We’re going to do 3,000 mortars in less than five minutes. It’s going to be one phenomenal display of pyrotechnic, show-ending awesomeness,” Mr. Clark said. 

if you go

>> What: Downtown GetDown featuring Blues Traveler >> When: Saturday, Oct. 24, from 3 p.m. to midnight >> Where: Laishley Park in downtown Punta Gorda >> Cost: $25 general admission in advance, $30 general admission at the gate, $125 VIP admission. >> Tickets: Hooters locations and Bin 82 in Punta Gorda or online at www.downtowngetdown. com.