Tad Kinchla

Thaddeus Arwood "Tad" Kinchla (born (1973-02-21)February 21, 1973) 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 (with the exception of keyboardist Ben Wilson). 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 future internet personality 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 eponymous album with DJ Logic.

On January 18, 2009, Kinchla married his girlfriend, entertainment journalist Carrie Hill. The couple lives in Austin, Texas with their Teacup Yorkshire Terrier Laverne. On February 7, 2011 they announced that they were expecting their first child. On February 9, 2013, John Popper announced the arrival of the couple's twin boys, Jack and Dylan, by sharing their pictures on the Twitter page he operates with Kinchla.