The group shared an apartment on Bergen Street in Brooklyn, New York, along with their high school friend, singer Chris Barron. A second band that Popper and Hill founded, called The Trucking Company, soon became The Spin Doctors with Barron as their frontman. The two groups would often share the stage, playing non-stop concerts of multiple sets. Their first show together was at a Columbia University fraternity party and their second was at a Jamaican-themed restaurant near Times Square in New York City. During this time, Blues Traveler acquired a devout follower, Gina-Z (subject of the band's song "Gina") who first became an unofficial "band mom" and later a tour manager, and is involved with the group's business to the present day.