Film crew visits Troy Hot Club

By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter

A Troy coffee house featuring live weekly entertainment in a non-alcoholic, smoke-free environment caught the attention of the Montana Public Broadcasting System.

Unfortunately, the television show featuring the Northwest Music Hot Club Coffee House for "Backroads of Montana" will not be aired locally. Copies on video-cassette tape will be available at Lincoln County Public Library in Libby after the show airs in the fall.

"Backroads of Montana," an award-winning television program produced by Montana PBS at The University of Montana Broadcast Center, highlights interesting people, places and events. "Backroads of Montana" has won five E.B. Craney Program of the Year awards from the Montana Broadcasters Association and a national Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards.

"Montana has so many great people," said program host and Montana native William Marcus. "We're happy to be able to tell their stories to the rest of the state."

The Hot Club caught the attention of "Backroads of Montana" after hearing about it from Troy resident Ralph Sever. Big Sky Journal Magazine also did a story on the club.

A southern California musician who discovered Troy while traveling through in the mid-1970s, Frank Chiaverini in 1990 opened the business as a music store. Seven years later, Chiaverini built the coffee house.

"We were doing fairly well it seems, but then the economy slipped," he said. "We got behind like all the other businesses around here."

Residents formed Friends of the Hot Club, agreeing to pay $15 a month for discounts on meals and entertainment. Close to 100 joined from all over Lincoln County and as far away as California and Scotland.

Chiaverini found the interest by PBS "gratifying."

"Anything that will help with membership," he said. "We want to get kids exposed to live music."

"Backroads of Montana" producer John Twiggs spent three hours over three days filming in Troy and nearby Kootenai Falls. He also filmed Troy area guitarist Alan Lane accompanied by Chiaverini at the Hot Club before a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 100. Brad Keller, an award-winning guitarist and mandolin player from Spokane, followed.

"We've just been amazed with how important this place is and how much live music they have," said Twiggs.

Footage from the Hot Club will be edited to a 6-minute segment of the 30-minute show.

Concert-goer Mike Owens of Yaak, who rarely misses a Friday night at the hot club, was happy to see it getting the attention, but disappointed that he won't see the program on television.

"It would be nice if we could see it," Owens said. "They've got a lot of talent here."

Audrey Chiaverini, who is Frank's mother, thought the interest by PBS was "great."

"It's a fantastic place to go, especially for a small town like Troy," she said. "And with no smoking or alcohol, children of all ages come here."