The Boogie Patrol are back and ready to boogie blues style with a touch of funk and a whole lot of soul after taking a brief break to work on other projects.

“ We’re in the middle of a rebirth. We’ve been vacant and distant,” said Boogie Patrol frontman and harmonica player  “Rott’n Dan” Shinnan, who brings his band back to the Slice, Oct. 24.

He will be joined by Yuji Ihara on guitar and backing vocals bassist/ backing vocalist Nigel Gale  and new drummer Emmet VanEtten, who you may recognize from playing drums with the likes of the Weber Brothers, Ronnie Hawkins and the Perpetrators.

“We’ve taken some time off to  do other projects. We didn’t want the band to die, but in order for it to live, we had to step back,” he said, noting he has been working with several bands as well as his own project, Yuji  has also been working an a lot of projects including a reggae band while Nigel was playing with a who’s who of blues icons like Maurice John Vaughan and Ross Neilsen.

“We’ve taken a look at the bigger picture, he continued.

An longstanding friendship with VanEtten ended in the culmination of asking him to join the band.
“One of the first festivals we played, we had to follow the Weber Brothers and we started talking to him and kept in touch,” he said, adding they started bringing him in for major gigs while he was living in Winnipeg, and asked him to officially join the band when he moved to Edmonton.

 He is glad the Boogie Patrol are playing more gigs again.

“ It’s good to be back. We’re full of new vim and vigour and energy,” he said, adding they are working on new material and have plans to record a new album  early next year.

“ We’ll probably release a new live album before that,” he said, adding they will recorded  at their regular Edmonton haunt Blues on Whyte and possibly on the road in Red Deer and Calgary during the  tour dates leading up to their Lethbridge  return.

 He said the new music  has  taken a step away from the blues, though it is still blues based.
“It’s not as heavily based in the blues. It’ s got more funk and more groove and a lot more rock and roll,” he described.

“ Out music includes roots and blues and soul so it does cross genres,” he said.
“ It really feels great. It’s really cool to be back.

The Boogie Patrol plays the Slice, Oct. 24 at 9:30 p.m.. Admission is $10.