It's not every band that's still staking out new musical territory and embracing fresh challenges more than 22 years into their career, but that's the case with Blues Traveler. Having long ago graduated from the jam-band underground to mainstream stardom, the iconoclastic combo has consistently stuck to its guns and played by its own rules. For their new release (and Verve Forecast debut) North Hollywood Shootout, the quintet ventured out of their creative comfort zone to explore some adventurous new horizons. The resulting album is a landmark in Blues Traveler's large and widely loved body of work, demonstrating the enduring strengths of the band's songwriting while capturing the spontaneous spirit of their legendary live shows. ...show more

It's not every band that's still staking out new musical territory and embracing fresh challenges more than 22 years into their career, but that's the case with Blues Traveler. Having long ago graduated from the jam-band underground to mainstream stardom, the iconoclastic combo has consistently stuck to its guns and played by its own rules. For their new release (and Verve Forecast debut) North Hollywood Shootout, the quintet ventured out of their creative comfort zone to explore some adventurous new horizons. The resulting album is a landmark in Blues Traveler's large and widely loved body of work, demonstrating the enduring strengths of the band's songwriting while capturing the spontaneous spirit of their legendary live shows.

The aforementioned body of work encompasses eight studio albums and four live discs, six of them certified Gold or Platinum, with combined worldwide sales of more than ten million units. The band's best-known single, "Run-Around," was the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history. Along the way, the band has played more than 2000 live shows in front of more than three million people. "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," notes frontman and harmonica-slinger John Popper.

"When we're all playing and it's working, it becomes this separate entity, and that's still the thing that we're chasing." North Hollywood Shootout -- produced by Grammy-winner David Bianco, whose diverse resume includes work with the likes of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger and Teenage Fanclub -- makes a strong case for Blues Traveler's timelessly vital writing and performing abilities. Such memorable tunes as the uplifting road-trip anthem "You, Me and Everything," the playfully romantic "Love Does" and the elegant, evocative "Orange in the Sun" boast infectious melodic hooks while showcasing the interactive instrumental chemistry that originally endeared the band to its rabidly devoted fan base. The new material also makes a strong case for the introspective side that's always been a key element of lyricist Popper's persona. The heart-tugging lyrics of the opening track "Forever Owed" were inspired by the singer's recent USO trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, while the poignant "Borrowed Time" is a bittersweet meditation on mortality and transience, inspired both by the recent passing of bandmates Chan and Tad Kinchla's father, and by Popper's feelings for his beloved and aging dog. ...show less