60
March 15 - April 4, 2014
Arts
www.SanTanSun.com
Reinvention on Blues Traveler’s itinerary BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
Blues Traveler guitarist Chandler Kinchla is loving that his band is headlining The Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival on Saturday March 22, in downtown Chandler. “Tell Chandler thanks for naming a town after me,” Kinchla jokes. “When we were told we had an interview in Chandler, Ariz., they asked, ‘Who’s up for that one?’ Come on!” Jokes aside, Blues Traveler is in the midst of a reinvention of sorts. This year marks the 20th anniversary of its album “Four.” In celebration, the record company is re-releasing it with a companion disc that will feature writing collaborations with the likes of Gavin DeGraw, John Mayer, the Plain White T’s and 3OH!3. The Plain White T’s track was produced by ‘N Sync’s JC Chasez. “He’s (Chasez) very musical because ‘N Sync sang all those harmonies and it’s all theory based,” Kinchla explains. “You need to know how music’s put together to be able to do that, believe it or not. ‘N Sync is such a big pop phenomena that it might be easy to think it was just overproduced. But singing is singing. “He really knows the musical side of things. I think his pop sensibility is kind of cool. We’re usually a little more rock oriented. It was neat to get that sensibility—especially with us and the Plain White T’s. He was great in getting the vibe right.” The variety of acts with which Blues Traveler is working displays the band’s diversity. “‘N Sync were terrific,” Kinchla says. “I like only one kind of music—good music, which could be anything from Rihanna to ‘N Sync to Prince to Charlie
COMING TO TOWN: Blues Traveler brings its improvisational rock to The Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival on Saturday March 22, in downtown Chandler. Submitted photo
Parker. ‘N Sync was definitely my favorite of the boy bands. I love me some JT (Justin Timberlake). Who doesn’t love JT?” He admitted that Blues Traveler tried to get Chasez to cut a rug, but he refused that and any
other ‘90s moves. “At one point, we were doing a photo with the band and all that,” he says. “We said, ‘Let’s finger point!’ He said, ‘No thanks. I did so much finger pointing back then.’”