Editing Blues Traveler (section)

===Mainstream breakthrough===
The band's fourth album, titled ''[[Four (Blues Traveler album)|four]]'', was produced by the team of [[Michael Barbiero]] and [[Steve Thompson (musician)|Steve Thompson]] and released in late 1994. The upbeat pop single "[[Run-Around (song)|Run-Around]]" became the group's first chart hit followed by "[[Hook (Blues Traveler song)|Hook]]". "Run-Around" won a [[Grammy Award]] and broke a record for most weeks on the chart.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/513091/blues-travelers-john-popper/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009193815/http://www.mtv.com/news/513091/blues-travelers-john-popper/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 9, 2017|title=Blues Traveler's John Popper|work=MTV News|access-date=October 9, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Blues Traveler appeared at [[Woodstock '94]] and later became an opening act for [[The Rolling Stones]]. The band played on the 1995 season premiere of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' as a last-minute replacement for [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]. They were featured in an episode of the sitcom ''[[Roseanne (TV series)|Roseanne]]'', and later recorded the show's [[Theme music|theme song]] for its final season. The 1996 comedy film ''[[Kingpin (1996 film)|Kingpin]]'' featured the group playing their song "[[But Anyway]]" during the closing credits.

The group recorded the [[Johnny Rivers]] song "[[Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers song)|Secret Agent Man]]" for the film ''[[Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls]]'' at Icon Recording Studios in St. Louis, Missouri and the [[Bob Seger]] song "Get Out of Denver" for the film ''[[Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead]]'', as well as [[Fats Domino]]'s "I'm Walkin{{'"}} for ''[[Rebel Highway]]: [[Cool and the Crazy]]''. Several previously recorded Blues Traveler songs were included on film soundtracks, including ''[[The Last Seduction]]'', ''[[Speed (1994 film)|Speed]]'', ''[[Very Bad Things]]'', ''[[White Man's Burden (film)|White Man's Burden]]'', and ''[[The Truth About Cats & Dogs]]''. The band also appeared in the film ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'' and on its soundtrack, playing "Maybe I'm Wrong", an original composition with a classic blues-rock sound. Blues Traveler recorded the [[Sly & the Family Stone]] song "[[I Want to Take You Higher]]" for the [[National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws|NORML]] [[compilation album]] ''[[Hempilation]]'' and the [[John Lennon]] song "[[Imagine (John Lennon song)|Imagine]]" for the Lennon [[tribute album]] ''[[Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon|Working Class Hero]]''. The original song "Christmas" was included on the benefit album ''[[A Very Special Christmas 3]]''.

The double live album ''[[Live from the Fall]]'' was released in 1996. It featured recordings from the band's autumn 1995 concerts and showcased the strength of the band's live performances.

The next studio album, ''[[Straight On till Morning (album)|Straight On till Morning]]'', also produced by Barbiero/Thompson, was released in 1997. It achieved [[RIAA certification|platinum status]], reaching number 11 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] albums chart, but did not perform as well as ''four''. The single "Carolina Blues" peaked at number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

By the end of 1998, the band had prepared a [[concept album]] called ''The Sun, The Storm and The Traveler'', based on [[Aesop's Fables|Aesop's fable]] of ''[[The North Wind and the Sun]]'', and they planned to record it after a recess in the fall of 1999. That summer, John Popper had emergency [[Cardiac surgery|heart surgery]] due to [[artery]] blockage, forcing the band to cancel their annual [[Independence Day (United States of America)|July 4]] [[Red Rocks Amphitheatre|Red Rocks]] shows at the last minute.

During the hiatus, Popper released a solo album with a backing band consisting of drummer [[Carter Beauford]] and members of the group Cycomotogoat.

The band made an appearance performing as themselves in the 1998 movie ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'' and the 1999 [[independent film]] ''[[Wildflowers (film)|Wildflowers]]'', which had been filmed a couple of years earlier.