Bill Brownstein: There’s nothing stopping Hillbilly Night at NDG

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Veteran violinist Bill Bland stepped up to the microphone and began fiddling and singing the country’s standard gold slippers. A group of other musicians – on banjo, bass, guitars, and mandolin – joined in. The crowd, already racing with anticipation, let out a collective roar. And as tradition goes, superfan Mike Held rang the cowbell to attest to the audience’s approval.

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Yes, Hillbilly Night was underway at NDG’s Wheel Club. Clearly, it will take more than a pandemic to permanently turn off the lights this evening. Members of Canada’s Old Time Country Music Club and their die-hard fans, old and young, gathered Monday at the charming and ramshackle Cavendish Blvd. venue to celebrate Hillbilly Night’s 55^th anniversary and its 25^th at the Wheel Club. Belatedly, that is. The events were supposed to take place in January, but the pandemic got in the way.

In terms of milestones, the evening was also a tribute to Bob Fuller, who died three years ago but would have celebrated his birthday on October 30. Fuller first founded Hillbilly Night at the defunct downtown Blue Angel club. It was left to plug in Jeannie Arsenault, a longtime Fuller disciple and a Hillbilly Night regular for the past 47 years, to take over the reins and keep the fire burning. And she has.

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Never mind that one of her hands hurt and needed surgery, Arsenault, decked out in a red firefighter dress (given to her by the family of a devoted and deceased fan) and the usual country caption, took the stage. to play his guitar and play the belt of the classic Hawkshaw ballad Hawkins Lonesome 7-7023. And the cowbell rang again.

With social distancing measures still in place for another week, the crowd peaked at 75, but the event was streamed live on YouTube and on the Wheel Club Facebook page, where it can still be enjoyed online.

The survival of the Wheel Club itself should not be taken for granted. It was nearly three years ago that it was on the brink of extinction before a new group of partners came in to keep it going, and that was before COVID hit. But through many live broadcasts of the club’s other music and cultural programs, the club has managed to stay afloat during the pandemic.

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Co-partner Cyndi Turner, soaking in the Hillbilly Night vibe, was upbeat about the prospects, and there will be tributes to Bruce Springsteen and Creedence Clearwater Revival soon. “We have the most loyal fan base who have supported us through the most difficult times.” Turner said. “I am very excited about this new chapter. We are like the little engine that could. ”

Over the years, the musicologist, teacher, and performer of nearly every known musical genre has helped fuel that engine, Craig Morrison, also a longtime Hillbilly Night regular.

“It’s about country music … that’s the foundation,” Morrison explained, attributing the success of Hillbilly Night. “It is simple music that can be expressed with a lot of emotions, but usually with a smile on the face. It’s contagious “.

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But there are some hard and fast rules: any instrument – except for the steel guitar – requiring an electrical impulse from an amplifier is prohibited. The battery is also a no-no. Country or bluegrass tunes written or performed after 1965, when these purists felt that Nashville got worse electrically are also prohibited.

Bland, who has been playing here for the past four decades, pledges allegiance to the Hanks, Williams and Snow, but is encouraged to see a new generation of enthusiasts perform at Hillbilly Night: “It’s great to see so many young people embrace this music now. Maybe other music is letting them down. ”

Maybe.

“There’s just no way to stop this train,” Turner noted as he enjoyed all the action on and off stage, which, ironically, was quite electric.

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Fuller would have been beaming. Few in his right faculties would have ever given him favorable odds at an old-fashioned, largely Anglo-Saxon country music event still going strong in Montreal at 55. Actually closer to 56.

The first time Alexandria Haber attended, accompanied by fellow actor and playwright husband Alain Goulem, daughter Bella, lover of Dolly Parton, and Haber’s mother, Patricia, they absorbed all of the Hillbilly Night adulation.

“I love it,” Haber marveled. “The music is amazing. The atmosphere is amazing. The people are amazing. I’m ready to write a play on this. ”

Music to the ears of Arsenault.

“Nothing can kill Hillbilly Night!” the grinning Arsenault uttered offstage. “And even my injured hand won’t stop me from playing.”

Sounds like a country tune in the works here.

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