It's not every band that's still staking out new musical territory and embracing fresh challenges more than 23 years into their career, but that's the case with Blues Traveler. Having long ago graduated from the jam-band underground to mainstream stardom, the iconoclastic combo has consistently stuck to its guns and played by its own rules.

For their new release (and Verve Forecast debut) North Hollywood Shootout, the quintet ventured out of their creative comfort zone to explore some adventurous new horizons. The resulting album is a landmark in Blues Traveler's large and widely loved body of work, demonstrating the enduring strengths of the band's songwriting while capturing the spontaneous spirit of their legendary live shows.

The aforementioned body of work encompasses eight studio albums and four live discs, six of them certified Gold or Platinum, with combined worldwide sales of more than ten million units. The band's best-known single, "Run-Around," was the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history. Along the way, the band has played more than 2000 live shows in front of more than three million people.

"We're still trying to reconcile the different things we do, and cultivate what we're individually good at into something that's bigger than the sum of its parts," notes frontman and harmonica-slinger John Popper. "When we're all playing and it's working, it becomes this separate entity, and that's still the thing that we're chasing."

Colorado rock band Big Head Todd & The Monsters ("Bittersweet," "Broken Hearted Savior," "Resignation Superman") are known for their timeless songwriting, powerful live performances, and unique sound – all reasons the band has garnered a sizable loyal following during their two decades making music. Today, the ever-evolving outfit continues to sell out venues coast to coast, including their always-epic annual shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. In fall 2011, Big Head Todd & The Monsters helped make history when they performed "Blue Sky" to the crew of space shuttle Discovery, becoming the only band to ever play a shuttle Wake Up Call live from NASA's Mission Control.

Also last year, Big Head Todd and The Monsters gathered some of the greatest living blues musicians to record the critically acclaimed 100 Years of Robert Johnson (Ryko/Big Records), a stirring tribute album featuring 10 potent interpretations of some of the most vital and durable music of the past century. Big Head Blues Club, as the ad hoc ensemble called itself, featured a rotating cast of both blues legends and keepers of the flame including B.B. King, the now deceased Hubert Sumlin, Honeyboy Edwards (who also recently passed, at age 96) and many others.

Look for Big Head Todd & The Monsters on tour this spring/summer. www.bigheadtodd.com

Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Eurotrash Girl", and "Get Off This".

Founders Lowery and Hickman formed the band in 1991, soon releasing the album Cracker (featuring the hits "Happy Birthday to Me" and "Teen Angst") on Virgin Records. The band has been touring continually ever since, releasing 10 studio albums (plus several compilations, collaborations and live albums).