For Campbell River-based country singer-songwriter Sean Hogan, an upcoming performance in Merritt is about more than just music.

Hogan is celebrating being cancer-free for almost a year and a half, and doing that by donating the proceeds of the performance to the Canadian Cancer Society. The performance also falls in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month campaign, which sees the little yellow flower pins sold to raise funds and awareness of Canadians battling cancer.

“The last time I played in Merritt was on the main stage at Merritt Mountain Music Fest, and I thought it would be fun to do something there this spring,” Hogan said. The Merritt stop at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 96 will be the last stop on a tour through B.C. and Alberta. “It was always a blast, and I look forward to coming back and playing for the folks at the legion and raising some money. Why not?”

Hogan said the local legion was enthusiastic about the idea to host a fundraising performance.

“The thing that grabbed us the most is, there are several of our members who have dealt with cancer,” the legion’s Janet Poehnell said. “Sean is just coming back from having dealt with cancer himself, so that’s why the main focus is a fundraiser for the daffodil campaign.”

Hogan was diagnosed with a head and neck cancer in mid-August of 2011, which began in his tonsils.

“I’d been having bouts of tonsillitis through the spring, but what was happening was my right tonsil was masking the cancer,” he said. The cancer started in the right tonsil then spread to the lymph nodes on the right side of his neck.

“That’s where it set up house and grew a tumour,” Hogan said.

A month later, the tonsils and tumour were removed.

“They nuked it before it got very far,” Hogan said. “I didn’t have any additional surgery, it was just completely radiation and one cycle of chemo.”

Hogan, who has been a recording artist since the mid-1990s, said he is lucky that the disease didn’t affect his ability to sing.

“They avoided my voice box, which is great,” he said. “I’m still able to sing without any difficulty, and I’m just very grateful that they got it.”

Hogan said his friend, who’d been diagnosed with the same cancer at the same time, died of it in the same month he was pronounced cancer-free.

“It does kill people, and I was just lucky that it didn’t spread like my friend’s did.”

Hogan said his experience with cancer changed his perspective, and now he is looking forward to the future. He plans to release a tribute album to his favourite artists called Hogan’s Heroes some time next year, and he will preview some of his covers at the Merritt show as well as play songs from his six studio albums. Hogan is also up for four Vancouver Island Music Awards, including island vocalist of the year and B.C. artist of the year.

Sean Hogan hits the stage this Thursday at 7:30 and tickets are available at the legion.