John’s Blues Picks May 2017 – Boogie Patrol
This hard-touring quintet from Edmonton released their fourth album here at Fat City on April 14 and went on to play at the Kitchener Blues Festival Launch Party. Their touring schedule only shows Western Canadian dates for now which is most unfortunate as they have one fine new disc. They are: Rott’n Dan (Shinnan) on vocals & harp, Yuji Ihara on guitar, Chad Holtzman on guitar & bg vocals, Nigel Gale on bass and Emmet VanEtten on drums. Marc Arnould adds some very effective B3 to most of the songs. They style their music as high-energy blues, soul, R&B and rock n’ roll. Starting off is some funky soul in “Players Blues”, an excellent tune featuring a three-piece horn section (The Mocking Shadows). The blues starts with a stomping “Whole Lotta Gravy”. “Foolish Mind” is a serious highlight, a tuneful R&B masterpiece that showcases Rott’n Dan’s striking, raspy vocals and those wonderful horns. “(She’s Got A) Shaker Down Below” opens with Rott’n Dan’s harp over the horns. More rocking boogie up next with an impossibly fast “Easy To See”. One song that no doubt grew out of their highly regarded live shows is the not very radio friendly “Let’s Get Randy”, with its spoken exhortations. The title song concludes and it fits into the soul side, our narrator with a heart of stone is now a ‘man on fire’. For a band with two guitar players, there are virtually no guitar solos, just Rott’n Dan’s harp and occasionally the horn section being featured. The rhythmic punch this provides is a huge factor in their sound. A shout-out goes to Murray Pulver for those horn arrangements. This band has to be seen live and these new songs prove they’re not slowing down. The songs are very much in the party band mode but they are well written and exceptionally well played. Stay in touch with the tour schedule at www.boogiepatrol.com.