Blues Traveler Returns to Town

Blues Traveler, the popular band best known for their 1994 smash hit "Run-Around," featuring the fast-blowing harmonica playing of front man John Popper, will return to the Ridgefield Playhouse to play in their funky, rock-and-roll, hippie jam band style on Wednesday.

Having been in the music industry for 23 years, Blues Traveler went from an underground jam band to pop stardom in the early 1990s and never quit reinventing their sound while still remaining true to the artists their early fans fell in love with.

Wednesday's show, according to keyboardist Ben Wilson, will showcase some of the work from their new release, North Hollywood Shootout. But Wilson says that of the entire set, which is typically around 21 songs, only four or five will be new material.

"Our tour will draw from each album," Wilson said in a phone interview. "But it's cognitive: people want to hear the hits."

Then he joked, "It's a horrible responsibility," having hundreds of fans wanting to sing along with the songs they know and love.

Wilson has a strong affinity for the Ridgefield Playhouse and says that Executive Director Allison Stockel "is always super kind to us," even getting them guest passes at her fitness center in town when they arrive.

The creative process for the new album was new for the band. This time, rather than work out the songs before hitting the studio, they worked out much of the final pieces while in the studio, "allowing for what Blues Traveler has always done well: be spontaneous," according to Wilson.

In trying to capture that live element, they were able to record the songs with a fresh ear, which was a new way of working for the quintet.

Part of that spontaneity came in the form of a "rant" by Bruce Willis, a longtime friend and guest musician with the band, who had jotted down some "not organized ideas" and created a six-minute monologue to the drum beat of a jam.

Though Willis will not be performing with Blues Traveler at the Playhouse, Wilson promises the crowd a great set, though which songs they play depends on whose turn it is of the fivesome to select the songs.

Wilson cited some "creative differences" regarding the outcome of some of the records, but ultimately said that "all that ping-ponging can lead to a nice dynamic with good creative stuff."

For tickets or more information, contact the Ridgefield Playhouse at www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org or call the box office at 203-438-5795.