John Popper loves being in Blues Traveler, which has an album slated for 2012.But that love didn’t come easy, especially in the early days when hits such as “Hook” and “Run-Around” were years away.In those days, Blues Traveler was helped by producer and songwriter Jono Manson, who served as a mentor when the young band first moved to New York City in the late 1980s from New Jersey.Manson was the frontman of The Worms, a popular band touring the New York club circuit, and frequently booked Blues Traveler to open their shows. “He was a big brother,” Popper said.

After Blues Traveler became a household name and touring phenomenon in the early 1990s, Popper never forgot Manson’s help. Finally Popper seized the opportunity to work with Manson in a side project called The Duskray Troubadours, releasing their self-titled debut album on March 1.

The music sounds similar in spirit to Blues Traveler, but with a tighter, rootsier sound, thanks to the songs Popper and Manson wrote together and recorded with their friends (bassist Steve Lindsay, drummer Mark Clark, and guitarists Kevin Trainor and Aaron Beavers).“What’s great about this album is that I was able to calm down,” said Popper, 43, who’s known for his flexible tenor and superlative skill playing the harmonica. “In Blues Traveler, the expectation is very acrobatic singing and acrobatic harmonica playing. There is an expectation, and what gets lost is melody.”

Popper usually writes songs with fellow members of Blues Traveler, but he found it freeing to write with another songwriter. “There was an expectation in Blues Traveler that we had to do it ourselves, or we would let down the Beatles,” Popper said. “It’s so liberating not having the expectation of being Blues Traveler. It made me remember capabilities that I had forgotten.”
The result is a more relaxed sound that finds a melodic, Muscle Shoals-inspired groove that Popper’s voice takes comfort in. The harmonica and the voice sound familiar, but rather than being a jam band, the sextet enjoys the simple pleasures of easy hooks and heart-tugging ballads. Popper relearned how to write a melody, he said.

John Popper, the enigmatic harmonica player and vocalist who fronted Blues Traveler, has been a busy man since the band’s last album, North Hollywood Shootout, in 2008. Between relentless touring with the band and with his John Popper Project, and guesting on others’ recordings, he found precious little time to get his own new material out there. John Popper & the Duskray Troubadours’ self-titled debut is what Popper refers to as the other half of his life apart from Blues Traveler. The band includes guitarist/keyboardist/producer Jono Manson, bassist Steve Lindsay, drummer Mark Clark, and guitarists Kevin Trainor and Aaron Beavers. The 12 tunes here find Popper in loose, utterly melodic roots rock terrain à la the Band, covering the American roots music gamut. Whether playing ballads (“A Lot Like You” and “Hurt So Much”), steamy blues-rock (“Bereft” and “Don’t Tread on Me”), back porch Americana (“Make It Better” and “Champipple”), crunchy rockers (“Leave It Up to Fate”), or Muscle Shoals-influenced R&B (“Something Sweet”), the hooks are plentiful and the groove is relaxed and easy.

John Popper (vocals, harmonica, background vocals); Jono Manson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tenor guitar, baritone guitar, toy piano, background vocals); Kevin Trainor , Aaron Beavers (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Steve Lindsay (bass guitar); Mark Clark (drums, percussion).

01. Love Has Made It So 4:24
02. A Lot Like You 3:38
03. Bereft 3:57
04. What Can I Do For You 4:24
05. All The Way Down 4:05
06. Make It Better 3:27
07. Something Sweet 3:49
08. Champipple 4:14
09. Hurt So Much 5:29
10. Don´t Tread On Me 3:01
11. End Of The Line 2:41
12. Leave It Up To Fate 4:30

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