Tad Kinchla

Who is Tad Kinchla?

Thaddeus Arwood "Tad" Kinchla is an American musician, most famous as the bassist for the jam band Blues Traveler.

He was born in Princeton, New Jersey, Kinchla is the younger brother to long-time Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla. He began playing the upright bass as a child after his brother had settled with the guitar. He graduated from Princeton High School in 1991, the same high school that the rest of the band attended. Following high school, he attended and graduated from Brown University. During his time there, he studied political science, played lacrosse and formed a band called Dowdy Smack with Ze Frank.

In 1999, during Kinchla's time playing in a band called Smit-Haus, Blues Traveler's original bassist Bobby Sheehan died. This left an opening in the band for a new bassist. Kinchla was one of five bassists to try out for the spot. He was the first to audition, with auditions being held live in concert at a New York bar called Bar Bat, and not in a studio. His audition was the first band performance after the death of Sheehan and came with no rehearsal.

In 2006, Kinchla also joined Blues Traveler frontman John Popper in a side project called the John Popper Project. In 2006, they released an eponynmous album with DJ Logic.