Rockin’ Thunder 2025: BoonDog interview

Hailing from Cochrane, blue-rock band BoonDog played a set between Joan Jett and Bret Michaels on the YEG Rocks stage. Prior to their set, the three-piece sat down with The Gateway to chat about their upcoming release and inspirations. 

“We play blues-rock inspired by 60s and 70s artists,” the band’s guitarist, Andrew Venning said. 

The band said the Black Keys are an inspiration for them as well, but that they’re “a bit older, so maybe we have the same influences as them too.” 

For songwriting, Aaron Kenny, the band’s bassist and vocalist said that lyrically, the songs start out as a phrase. They don’t go into their jam session with a concrete idea, and more so go in and jam, and build it around that. “We come up with the music first, get a good groove. When we jam, I mumble nonsense into the mic, and I’ll come back and the nonsense words will be replaced with lyrics,” Kenny said. 

Currently, the band has one record out, released in 2024, called Jam House. Kenny said after their current run of gigs, they’re back in the studio for their next project. 

“We’ve already started writing for it. We’re playing a few songs that are going to be on the next album live too. All summer we gig, and then when the winter comes, we just write and rehearse, record an album. And next summer we’ll try and do the same thing. That’s our cycle,” Kenny explained. 

“The excitement of rock and roll is not in Calgary like it is here in Edmonton,” Kenny says

While it is commonly understood that most projects will gig out their setlists before recording, BoonDog did the opposite. “We got together, wrote an album, released it, and we had never played live until after the album was released,” Kenny said. 

They’re hoping the next record is better than the last. “We don’t want to fall into that trap where you release a couple of great albums and then you start writing crap and people start falling away,” Kenny said. He added that they “might change it up a bit, maybe a little edgier.” 

The band is looking to refine their sound and quality as well. In terms of quality, Kenny said they’re aiming for “better songs that are more fun to play and listen to. We’re going to put some cool layering stuff like Hammond Organs that’ll add some texture to the sound.” 

They said they’re considering using samples and organs live to fill in some of the sound due to them only being a three piece. “Because we’re a three piece, there’s holes. [The Hammond] will fill up space and give it a bit more of a cool retro vibe too.” 

On playing in Edmonton, the band said that Edmonton is more of a rock city than Calgary. “I love Calgary, but it’s very centred around country and techno. And there’s rock venues but they’re not very popular and you don’t get paid much. The excitement of rock and roll is not in Calgary like it is here in Edmonton,” Kenny said.

For now, the band is looking to have an album prepped for release by August 2026 and is considering a music video to accompany one of the record’s tracks.