More than six years have passed since I last spoke with Dave Toennies, Cody Howard, and Nick Angelini of the Windsor/Detroit based band Border Patrol. They had just released their sophomore album, “The Worst Excuses,” and were on the cusp of having a breakout year when everything came to a screeching halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was particularly disruptive due to guitarist/lyricist Toennies' status as an American living in Michigan.
Fast-forward to today, and Toennies and company are scheduled to play what will be their last show as Border Patrol at Windsor’s Meteor Lounge on Saturday, September 26, with opening acts Ron Leary and Years of Ernest. In the years since the whole world stopped, the band just never got back the traction they had going pre-pandemic.
Toennies says, “We had the long hiatus after COVID, and the stars never aligned to easily get back into doing it, and everyone involved in the project got into a different stage in their lives with different obligations. We had to work really hard to get just one more show out of it”
“About a year ago we started relearning the old stuff and trying to put this show together. Years of Earnest had been scheduled to be part of the Windsor release show, so we wanted to get them on it, and we’ve always just loved Ron (Leary). Ron has a footprint in both countries too. He plays a lot in the States, and it’s amazing the number of Americans I know who know Ron Leary.”
“We just wanted one more chance to get on a stage and play these songs people have never heard us play live before.”
At the time I last talked to Toennies, he was writing more music, like most musicians during the pandemic. I wondered what happened to all the material inspired by his time in lockdown.
Tonnies says, “I did write, and I do have songs that I’m kind of sitting on. I’ve continued to play a lot of solo stuff. I still host a weekly songwriter-oriented open mic in Hamtramck so I still had excuses to write music. Our hope is that we can find an outlet for them that’s not just me playing them alone. For the show on the 26th, we are tentatively going to unveil some of those songs.
“Our goal is to put this project to bed but continue some type of project- Cody, Nick, and I in particular. We want to do something, but we don’t have a name or a timeline for when. We figured let’s share some new stuff too so it isn’t just playing six-year-old songs for people.”
“Overall, we’re happy to have the opportunity to play for all these people, some of them friends we’ve made along the way and haven’t seen in a while, and also this late wave of people who found the music because of the open mic show I do and who have never seen a Border Patrol show.”
With the farewell show happening at a time of political tension between Canada and the US, it’s a chance to bring together people from both sides of the border who share one common thing: the love of music. Again, the border is playing a big role in the band’s story, and the irony of this is not lost on Toennies.
“It’s definitely top of mind for everyone who lives here more than anywhere else. Everyone locally feels a lot of pain regarding it. I think it’s important to have something like this to remind us that we are one community, one family that has so much in common, and we’ll always have that, and this will pass eventually. We’re neighbors, and we have to be here for each other.”
“We hope that we can do our little part for a couple of hours on the 26th just to get everyone in a room loving each other again for a little bit.”
Border Patrol with special guests Years of Ernest and Ron Leary, Saturday, September 26th @ 8pm at Meteor
