Bonnie Koloc

In celebration of our nine and a half years at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, we are honord to bring BONNIE KOLOC to our stage. This is a celebratory concert as it's our last concert before St. Timothy Lutheran Church closes its ministry. The coffeehouse will announce our new location at this concert to celebrate out 9-1/2 years here. Come have cake and with us!

This Renaissance artist has been a legend on the Chicago folk scene since 1968 along with names like John Prine and Steve Goodman. Bonnie was recently inducted into the Illinois Hall of Fame (September 2025), with fellow artists, Steve Goodman and Corky Siegel. 

Her crystal clear, enduring and versatile voice has been heard in Chicago for a decade as a headliner at Earl of Old Town., Bonnie was a pivotal act at the Earl of Old Town, drawing crowds that stood in lines around the block, hoping, at least, for a place to stand to catch the hottest act in town.  In time, her folk-oriented style merged with jazz and blues, and her versatility took her to Mr. Kelly’s, a long-time Chicago landmark.  

Along the way she received a Governor’s Award in 1973 for Best Singer, recorded ten albums, two of them with Epic. In 1984 her career took another turn when she starred in the Public Theater’s production of The Human Comedy, first earning her the theatre World Bronze Award for Outstanding New Talent on Broadway and a Drama Critics Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Bonnie returned to college in 1987 to finish a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Northern Iowa.  Since high school, Bonnie has shown a gift not only for acting but for fine art, and since 1987 she has been an active print maker, painter and ceramist. In 1999 she was distinguished by her inclusion in the National Exhibition of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society.

In 1996 Bonnie brought together her talents as a singer/songwriter and an artist in A Bestiary.  A collection of linocuts, poetry, and music, A Bestiary captures thirteen beasts of the farm with a print, poem and song for each.  This stunning work won Best in Show at the Iowa State Fair’s art salon in 1996.  These art songs, written in the pentatonic scale, show Bonnie adding yet another dimension to her multi-faceted accomplishments. Copies of the limited edition set of A Bestiary have been acquired by individual collectors, the Iowa Arts Council, the Waterloo Art Center and Museum, and the special collections department of the Chicago Public Library. In 2003 Bonnie received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council to publish a trade edition of A Bestiary which was issued with a CD in 2005.

Bonnie has illustrated over a dozen books for Free River Press, published by her husband, former Chicago Tribune columnist Robert Wolf.  Free River Press publications are collections of stories documenting life across America by people without literary ambition.  Most recently Bonnie created the cover art and twenty linocut decorations for Robert’s latest book, Heartland Portrait: Stories From the Rural Midwest.

Bonnie continues to perform and record. Her latest CD “Seems Like Yesterday” (2017) is Bonnie's 15th album. It contains live performances from the 1970s, primarily at the popular Evanston, IL folk club Amazingrace. It is preceded by the studio recording “Rediscovered” (2012) and thirteen other albums including “Timeless” (2004), a double CD of selections from mostly live performances between 1970 and 1995; “A Bestiary” (2005), a CD accompanying the art book described above; “Here To Sing” (2006), a studio recording; and “Beginnings” (2009), a CD of selections from early live recordings by Rich Warren, primarily of performances at the legendary Chicago folk club, the Earl of Old Town.

Bonnie appears at this concert with John Moulder, one of Chicago's premier guitarists, and bassist, Eric Hochberg. Eric is a mainstay on the Chicago music scene. He has recorded and performed with Kurt Elling.