Resuming a seven-year tradition that was interrupted in 1999 by the health problems of frontman John Popper, Blues Traveler [ tickets ] has announced plans to perform at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver on July 4. The band is currently writing and recording its first album since the death of founding bassist Bobby Sheehan, with plans to release the new material sometime this year.

Tickets for the July 4 Red Rocks performance are now on sale. Opening acts will be announced soon, as will additional touring plans, according to a message on the band's fan hotline.

Last year's July 4 show at Red Rocks was cancelled for the first time in seven years after Popper was admitted to a California hospital complaining of chest pains. He later underwent surgery to clear a blocked artery.

The band hired bassist Tad Kinchla, brother of the group's guitarist Chan, to take Sheehan's slot last November. Sheehan died of a drug overdose last August.