The tour kicks off October 6 at the Mobile Bayfest in Mobile, Ala., and will initially hit 25 cities mainly in the eastern U.S., including Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. The outing will visit mainly clubs and theatres.

Last year, the band recruited Tad Kinchla, the younger brother of guitarist Chan Kinchla, to take over bass duties.

Blues Traveler has been in the studio and will head out on the road following a most difficult year. Frontman John Popper was hospitalized and underwent an angioplasty after suffering chest pains just a few weeks before Sheehan was found dead in his New Orleans home.

The band’s future was in doubt, until a September 11, 1999, summit at which the surviving members decided to soldier on.

Chan Kinchla, speaking on behalf of Blues Traveler, said, “We thought it would be useless to compound the tragedy by letting something we all, including Bobby, worked so hard for to fall apart.”

Blues Traveler announced in February they were back in rehearsals and would be heading for the studio to record a long-awaited follow-up to their 1997 release, Straight On Till Morning.