The Wheel Club and its 'Hillbilly Night' are back — but don't worry, you can still watch online
Until COVID hit, Jeannie Arsenault could count on her hands the number of times in 47 years that she had missed Hillbilly Night.
Arsenault is the perky 77-year-old behind the most famous weekly event at the Wheel Club in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood — which came roaring back to life Monday with an in-person audience of 20.
In an interview with CBC before the show, Arsenault sported a multi-coloured checkered shirt and clutched her guitar with a timid smile.
"I had missed only 10 [Hillbilly Nights] before all this COVID stuff. Because music is my life," she said. "I love music. I wrote a song about music being my life. I can't stop listening."
The Wheel Club is almost mythical in Montreal; an old-time country club that has managed to stay traditional despite decades passing and musical styles evolving.
Two years ago, to the distress of many regulars, the club changed hands.
But at least two things stayed the same: the wall of fame, which features photos of past performers, and the tradition of Monday Hillbilly Nights with Arsenault as host.
Hillbilly Night bills itself as the city's longest-standing musical open mic show. Musicians can show up the night of, get themselves on Arsenault's list and play.
That is — as long as they follow her rules.
Some things at the Wheel Club just don't change
"Acoustic instruments, no drums or electric instruments," said Clifford Schwartz, the Wheel Club's president, listing Arsenault's conditions for playing.
"So it's upright bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin, vocals."
Oh, and no songs from after 1969 (this rule was recently updated; the limit used to be 1965).
Arsenault used to host the night at the former Blue Angel country club on Drummond Street, which she joined in 1974.
Hillbilly Night has been at the Wheel Club for 25 years, and Arsenault has been key in preserving the club's legacy, but she's enjoyed helping it adapt to modern times, too.
Livestreaming to keep the music alive
During the pandemic, the club began livestreaming a recording of Hillbilly Night. The musicians would perform for four cameras for one hour on Saturdays and an edited version with the different camera angles would be live cast on Facebook every Monday at 8 p.m.
The streams attracted an audience around the world and allowed the club to stay on its feet through donations it split with the musicians.
"It was good for me and and it was good for the club," Arsenault said.
Schwartz says the club will continue to livestream on Monday nights, even with the in-person audience, to maintain the international community it created.
"That'll accomplish a lot of goals in terms of bringing a lot of music out to the rest of the planet and to people who can't necessarily get there for whatever reason," he said in an interview with Daybreak.
Schwartz says the pandemic also offered the new owners space and time to make some other upgrades to the club, including some of the decor and audio equipment.
But the old time flair remains, he says.
As for the "Queen of the Wheel," as some friends call Arsenault, she prepared to play "Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight," an aptly titled song.
"It's kind of fun," Arsenault said of the nickname. "But I don't think I'm a queen. I don't wear a crown!"
