Huntington’s Bogmen Come Home

By Carina Livoti

clivoti@longislandergroup.com

The Bogmen, a band with Huntington roots, plays The Paramount Memorial Day weekend.

Homegrown in Huntington, indie rock band The Bogmen is coming back to its Long Island roots at the Paramount on May 23.

Billy Campion, Bill Ryan, Brendan Ryan, Mark Wike, P.J. O’Connor and Clive Tucker formed The Bogmen in 1993, but the band’s roots date back to the late 1970s.

“My brother Brendan, Billy Canton, and I played in a number of bands together in high school starting in my basement on Cove Road,” Bill said.

The band played at parties and clubs in town like Mother McGee’s.

The Huntington boys picked up Wike, O’Connor, and Tucker in college, on bass, drums, and percussion, respectively, to form a group that toured through much of the tri-state area. After producing the record “Life Begins At 40 Million,” the group took something of a break.

“We’ve been on and off over the years… Everybody kind of went their separate ways, working on their own separate projects,” Bill said.

He added that those separate projects ranged from work on film scores to studying Chinese medicine.

“Everyone in the band has continued to do music separately from The Bogmen, so it’s really gratifying when it clicks,” he said.

The band got back together after 9/11 when they did a two night benefit called Love at Irving Plaza on Dec. 14 and 15, 2001, which raised $200,000 for charity.

“We started to get back together after 9/11. That was kind of a big hit; we lost a lot of friends and family,” Bill said.

Bill’s brother and bandmate, Brendan lost his wife, Kristy Irvine, another Huntington native, in the tragedy.

The Bogmen have recently relocated to Huntington and, after 20 years in New York City, are excited to be back and playing at The Paramount.

“We did two shows at Bowery Ballroom this past December and decided to do The Paramount—we’ve been wanting to do that since it opened,” Bill said.

The band is high energy, according to Bill, and audiences should expect an interactive experience.

“It’s almost controlled chaos; it’s high energy, we feed off of the crowd a lot—it’s kind of a team effort between the crowd and the band,” he said.

 Since their upcoming show is on Memorial Day, they plan to honor the troops. Concertgoers can purchase an upgraded ticket for $75 that will go to The Wounded Warrior Project in order to attend an event from 6-7 p.m., where war veteran Jason Braase will speak.

“When we get together now, it is a joyous occasion for our love of music and life. Returning to Huntington makes it very special,” Bill said.

Tickets are $25-$60. Visit the box office at 370 New York Ave. or visit paramountny.com for more information.