by Donalevan Maines
The Brazos River Bottom, Montrose’s country home for the past thirty-five years, is closing. Or it’s moving. In any event, the gay country-and-western dance club is turning the lights off at 2400 Brazos at the end of March. “We will be having a big party,” said Robert Harwood, a bartender and co-manager with Craig Rutherford.
Harwood explained that the building, which is more than one hundred years old, needs a lot of repairs. On February 4, the owners posted the official closing notice and announced they were looking for a spot to relocate. “It’s very depressing,” said Harwood. “We are a family, and none of us are happy, but you have to move on.”
The club, which is the site of free dance lessons every Thursday evening, has employed some of its workers for decades. For example, Harwood said, “Everyone knows Tommy Sue, who has been a bartender here for twenty-three or twenty-four years, probably the longest bartender in the gay scene, forever.”
The BRB also hosted a benefit show almost every Sunday night, more recently adding a Friday night show. “A lot of money has been raised here over the years for charity,” said Harwood, who’s worked at the BRB for more than six-and-a-half years following a prior six-year stint in the early nineties when he was the club’s first bar back.
For more information about the BRB, its staff, and March events, call 713/528-9192 or visit brbtx.com.
Comments
Comments