Locals to headline May concert
The Megan Bugg Concert Series will continue this month with a double bill featuring the musical stylings of BOGO Free and Marvin Minarich.
BOGO Free is an acoustic group featuring guitarist Roger Hoegger and Coal City’s own Pat Halloran with vocals.
BOGO Free got its start in 2015, about 40 years after Halloran and Hoegger first performed together in Mountain Chill, a band they put together as students at Dwight Township High School.
Halloran’s career is in education and he’s currently the superintendent of Morris Community High School. Over the years he’s performed in school and community theater productions and sang with another local band, Flashback.
Hoegger has played consistently since high school with groups including Rocky Mountain Pleasure, Main Street and User Friendly. He’s also a founding member of the popular local cover band The Clients.
Although BOGO Free will play just about anything from the past four decades, they have a knack for playing songs they heard in high school. If you like songs from bands like The Beatles, The Eagles, Sammy Johns all the way to the Zac Brown Banks and Three Doors Down, you won’t want to miss their performance in the Coal City Unit 1 Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 20.
The second half of the show will feature Marvin Minarich.
Minarich, of Morris, has been performing at local events for the past 15 years. He performs with a variety of groups and ensembles, is a regular vocalist for the Teddy Lee Orchestra, has appeared at the former Willowbrook Ballroom and was the 2005 Illinois State Fair Talent Contest winner for his rendition of Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife.”
Minarich studied music at Joliet Junior College and business at the University of Illinois—Chicago. He is the owner of Marvin’s Motor City, Inc. that specializes in the restoration of classic cars.
Minarich is not the only musician in his family. His wife, Kimberly is a Chicagoland pianist, accompanist, music director and music instructor at Monroe Middle School in Wheaton.
The show is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial.
General admission tickets are $5 per person and available in advance at bit.ly/CCMegan. Tickets will also be available at the door beginning one hour prior to the show.
Coal City Unit 1 Auditorium is located at Coal City High School, 655 W. Division St., Coal City.
Advanced reserved seat tickets to see Lance Lipinski & the Lovers, “Rock Baby Rock” show on Saturday, July 8 are also available at bit.ly/CCMegan.
The group is influenced by the 1950s and 60s rock and roll for a show that combines the sounds of rockabilly, rhythm and blues, western swing, doo wop and soul.
Lipinski appeared on stage as Jerry Lee Lewis in the Tony Award winning musical “Million Dollar Quartet.” The Lovers consist of bassist Zach Lentio, drumer John Perrin, guitarist Nate Adams, and saxophonist Aaron Getsug, and are accompanied by the Lovettes—Jessica Lyons, Temeka Estes and Darcy Jo Wood.
Proceeds from the shows will go to further support the Megan Bugg Concert Series that was established in 2016 by Coal City High School student Megan Bugg and her family.