As families plan to roll into Charleston to visit the students, so do many events. One of them is already a part of the Charleston community, a local band called Moondogs that will be playing at Mac’s Uptowner on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m.

Moondogs started in Oct. 2010 and have been playing together since. Many of the members are from Charleston, and a few are from Mattoon.

The members are Abby Haughee, on the mandolin and a vocalist, Joe Mclean on lead electric/acoustic guitar and vocalist, Jay Ferguson on the drums, Karen Hart, vocalist and percussion, Al Phillips, bass player, Wendy Meyer, acoustic guitar, saxophone, and vocalist, and the married couple Bob St. Gemme and Laura St. Gemme. Bob is another lead in electric/acoustic guitar and Laura plays the violin.

Jay Ferguson is the newest member and has been a part of the group for a year. He has an undergrad in music and he has been a helpful asset to bringing Moondogs forward.

Moondog’s Music is rooted in classic rock, however, according to their Facebook page they play everything from roots, rock, to reggae, and they wish to share music from when people listened to vinyl instead of the playlists on their iPods.

Abby Haughee the band’s booking agent and vocalist/mandolin player says that the group has a “master set-list” of more than 100 songs, many of which are by The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty. Haughee also says that the band is looking forward to the timing of the event because Family Weekend gives the band a chance to play for a variety of people.

While the band has had some changes in its members, those changes have stuck with Moondogs.

“We’re definitely a family band. We are always going to each other’s family events and hanging out together so we are all very close. I think that’s what has made us able to stick together for these five years” Haughee said.

Tickets for Saturday’s show are five dollars and you must be 21+ to attend

Abbey Whittington can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]