Blues Traveler Announces ‘Hurry Up & Hang Around’ Album & 2018 Fall Tour

Blues Traveler announced the upcoming release of a new studio album entitled Hurry Up & Hang Around via BMG Records on October 12. The band will support the record with a lengthy fall tour.

John Popper, Chan Kinchla, Tad Kinchla, Ben Wilson and Brendan Hill rented a house in Nashville to work on their 13th studio album. The quintet selected Matt Rollings (Willie Nelson) to produce the 12-track LP. “We were going through some changes as far as our infrastructure goes,” said John Popper in a statement. “We parted ways with two different managers. No preparations had really been made, and it seemed like it might be too late to make new music. Between taking meetings, we were by ourselves writing in the garage every day of this Nashville house. That was pretty cool, because we felt like a garage band again. There was a spirit of survival. We had something to celebrate, so we really came together as a band.”

Popper was happy with what Rollings brought to the sessions. “Matt put it all on turbo boost, because he’s one of the finest producers we’ve ever worked with, period,” the vocalist/harmonica wiz added. “He can bring out any sound he wants. He got takes out of me that I couldn’t ever get out of myself, and I’ve tried. However, he also let me be me. It’s one of the best production experiences we’ve ever had. It was an unexpected musical education.” The album’s first single, “Accelerated Nation,” is due on July 6.

Blues Traveler kicks off an extensive tour in support of Hurry Up & Hang Around at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey on October 12. The group then heads to Rhode Island and Connecticut before playing a pair of shows in South Carolina. A visit to Charlotte will be followed by performances in Knoxville, Savannah, Birmingham, Athens, Raleigh and Columbus to conclude October.

Traveler begins November in the Midwest with performances scheduled in Milwaukee, St. Louis and Springfield (Missouri). Next up are shows in Tulsa, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston before the band concludes the tour with a West Coast swing that includes stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 29. Hurry Up & Hang Around is available for pre-order here.

Hurry Up & Hang Around Tracklist

1. Accelerated Nation
2. She Becomes My Way
3. The Touch She Has
4. When You Fall Down
5. The Wolf Is Bumpin’
6. Daddy Went A Giggin
7. Tangle Of Our Dreaming
8. More Than Truth
9. Prayer Upon The Wind
10. Miss Olympus
11. Phone Call From Leavenworth
12. Ode From The Respect