NDG Wheel Club's future in limbo as longtime owner retires

Editor's note:As of Feb. 4, the Wheel Club is under new management at least for now.Three NDG residents will run the bar for the rest of the winter and decide in April if they'll take it over. Meantime, Hillbilly Night continues on Mondays, and the new managers will hold their first Open Mic night on Saturday, Feb. 9.

Dickie Hearnbought theWheel Club about 37 years ago.

He had come to Montreal in 1957 from Newfoundland to find a job.Now at82, he's about to retire.

"I'm getting a little long in the tooth."

The club is located inbasement of an office building onCavendishBlvd. in Notre-Dame-de-Grce,and over the decades he's turned the tiny space into an anchor for Montreal's country scene.

The final curtain?

It's a Monday evening in January, andHearn isabout to host what may be the last Hillbilly Night at the Wheel Club.

The weekly night of country music has been drawingcrowds for more than 50 years itfirst started in 1966 in another location before settling atthe Wheel Club in NDG in the mid-1990s. Now if the clubcloses, Hillbilly Nightwill need to find a new home.

"I'm hoping for the best but preparing for the worst."

Hearnsays he'sfrantically trying to find somebody to take over the lease. There is a prospective buyer, butHearn says they'rehaving difficulty reaching an agreement with the owner of the building.

"If they don't figure it out, I'm afraid the Wheel Club is bye-bye."

The future of Montreal's Wheel Club is in limbo as longtime owner retires

6 years ago

Duration 1:38

The owner of the popular NDG neighbourhood country music venue The Wheel Club is retiring at the end of month, and if he can't find a new buyer he'll need to close the space.

He's says if the club closes, he'll need to sell everything inside.

"It's upsetting for everybody, especially for Hillbilly Night."

Jeannie Arsenault is one of the organizers of Hillbilly Night. She took over from Bob Fuller, who created the event. He died earlier this year.

One of her roles is to enforce the longstanding rule that all the country songs performed predate 1965. There is, however, an exception for blue grass, because it's acoustic.

"Bob Fuller didn't want drums, horns and all that stuff.Nothing that shouldn't be in country music," she says.

Arsenaultsays the rule will be broken every once in a while by people who don't know better.If this happens, she'll stop the music as was the case for a woman who once tried to play the Dolly Parton song,Jolene.

"She started to sing it, and I went in front of the stage and said, 'Stop, stop, stop.'"

She believes the success of Hillbilly Night, which just celebrated its53rd anniversary, comes down to love and friendship.

"It's a love of music and a love of friends.We made a lot friends here."