Chandler Kinchla, better known as Chan Kinchla, (born May 29, 1969) is a Canadian-American musician best known as the guitarist for the jam band

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

Early life

Kinchla was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, Canada. Kinchla is the older brother of Blues Traveler bassist

Tad Kinchla Thaddeus Arwood "Tad" Kinchla (born February 21, 1973) is an American musician, who is the bassist for the jam band Blues Traveler. Early life He was born in Princeton, New Jersey, Kinchla is the younger brother to long-time Blues Traveler gu ...

. He attended Princeton High School in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, where he started playing guitar with

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immig ...

in 1986. Kinchla was one of the two original members of the band. While still in high school, the band gigged in New York City often. After graduation, they moved there and played at "divey, shit-hole bars" until they secured a record deal with A&M.

Career

After their record deal, a bartender at one of the clubs they played at had a job with

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

and introduced the band to him. Blues Traveler appeared on

The David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Backg ...

as their first national television event. Kinchla "think of Dave fondly as the guy who gave us our first break, as far as some national television exposure". The band released their first album in 1990. Chan along with Brendan Hill are the only members of Blues Traveler who do not participate in a side project, although Chan and John Popper do acoustic shows together.

Guitars

Chan has used a wide variety of guitars throughout his career, including

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

, Fender,

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

, and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

guitars. In recent years, Chan has played

Paul Reed Smith Paul Reed Smith (born February 18, 1956) is an American luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars, a high-end guitar maker. Early life Smith graduated from Bowie High School in 1974. He also attended St. Mary's College of Maryland where ...

guitars as they have a custom model created for him.

References

External links

Chan Kinchla's bio - BluesTraveler.com
* 1969 births Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian blues guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian rock guitarists Living people Grammy Award winners Blues Traveler members {{Canada-guitarist-stub