Blues Traveler ready to ‘Hook’ fans at Iowa Speedway

Brendan Hill, drummer for the Grammy Award-winning rock band Blues Traveler, said jazz was a big musical influence in the band’s formative years. But he doesn’t mind a little metal — at least the steel from his 1970 Chevelle.

Hill and the other four members of Blues Traveler — vocalist/harmonicist John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson — will headline the Pork Party Pavilion stage Friday night as part of the NAPA Auto Parts Concert Series at Iowa Speedway. The group will take the stage approximately one hour after the conclusion of the 150-lap ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

“We are big race fans. I don’t get to take the car out as much as I’d like, so we’re looking forward to seeing the race Friday night and playing for such a good crowd,” Hill said. “Race fans are usually great music fans. The two tie in very well together, so we’re looking forward to the event.”

Vocalist and harmonicist John Popper and Hill started Blues Traveler as a New Jersey “basement band” originally called “The Establishment” after meeting in high school in 1983. Chan Kinchla joined the band in 1985 and original bassist Bobby Sheehan joined in 1986. Popper and Hill began attending the progressive arts institution The New School in central Manhattan. It was there, and in the small bars and clubs of Greenwich Village, that Blues Traveler developed what would eventually become its chart-topping style.

“It was a great time. We were able to use The New School as kind of our practice room,” Hill said. “One of the great advantages to that was there were a lot of actual performers — jazz musicians who were teachers by day and Jazz musicians by night.”

Blues Traveler came of age at a time when grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam were also beginning their movement on the west coast. Although their music was more improvisational and melodic in its routes, Hill said jam band musicians of the early to mid-1990s were pigeon holed and lumped together. Led Zeppelin, one of Blues Travelers many inspirations, played familiar sets nightly, but Hill said it never quite sounded the same and attributed that to guitarist Jimmy Paige’s improvisational chops.

Even within Blues Traveler’s own ranks, guitarist Chan Kinchla is a big into The Police and The Clash, Popper loved Hendrix, while Hill looked to Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. The drummer said Blues Traveler is five musical tastes coming together, taking cues from jazz and experimenting with improvisation.

“All the bands that came up in the 90s on the east coast got put into that category,” Hill said. “We were all fans of live, improvised music, weather it was jazz or rock or Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix or Led Zeppelin. ... you get sort of the different schools of where people came from. ... that’s what was great about The New School. They were trying to create musicians that made their own sound and became their own players. I think that’s what a lot of bands like Phish and Spin Doctors all sort of made their own musical style which is very different than each other but can be put together in that jam band theme.”

During Friday’s Iowa Speedway performance, Hill said their set list will win fans over early by playing songs such as “Hook” and “Run Around” — their recognizable crowd pleasers — plus tracks from their new album “Blow up the Moon.” For their latest release, Hill credits producers from their management firm UD Factory with encouraging Blues Traveler to create a collaboration album. Hill said it’s part of a continuous reinvention for the band.

“By bringing us together with actual full bands like 3OH!3, Dirty Heads, The Plain White T’s and Hanson, we’re putting us in a room together with a full other band and not just a producer. You get that kind of organic song writing … it becomes much more of a group writing session … what came out was not Blues Traveler or Plain White T’s or Blues Traveler and Jewel. It sounded like something different.”

Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small said Blues Traveler will bridge two days of racing, which includes Saturday’s INDYCAR Series Iowa Corn 300 at 7:50 p.m.

Small said Blues Traveler fit in with the 2015 concert series progression from county to hard rock which has included John Michael Montgomery, Finger Eleven and will conclude with tribute band Rock Godz following the July 31 the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race. But Small said, truth be told, his Blues Traveler fandom might have had a bit to do with booking the group.

“Based on the research we put forth ahead of this season, they’re really a good crossover between folk and country, rock and alternative. I think the sound coming from Blues Traveler is something that everyone will enjoy,” Small said. “There are a lot of songs that, I don’t think anyone would argue against this, are classics from the 1990s. Blues Traveler really complements the talent we’ll have here Friday and Saturday on the race track. But being honest, I definitely had something to do with it.”

Small said the concert series at Iowa Speedway is part of a growing movement in the motor sports industry to emphasize musical entertainment. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for example, hosts a big country concert going into the Indianapolis 500 race week.

Track organizers also host what they’ve dubbed “the snake pit,” a spot for a continuous infield party with electronic music during the race.

It’s about focusing on the entire fan experience and attract a wider variety of fans, Small said. Having the Turn 4 stage, Iowa Speedway is in a unique position to bring this trend to its fans.

“I couldn’t off the top of my head name you another race track in this country, on the NASCAR or IndyCar level, that has a permanent stage,” he said. “It really speaks to the advantages we have at the speedway.”

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com