When Tim Montana joined our radio show, Loudwire Nights, last year, he told the audience about how he and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top became friends.
“I had this dumb idea called ‘This Beard Came Here to Party’ and a friend of a friend got it to a guy with this little band from Texas called ZZ Top,” Montana explained to Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.
“I got the call that Billy Gibbons is in town. He rolled in and said, ‘I like this song,’ so he came in the studio and we finished it.”
That song ended up becoming the unofficial anthem for the 2013 Boston Red Sox and Gibbons and Montana wound up on the cover of USA Today, cementing their friendship for the world to see.
“He’s become like my rock and roll dad I never had,” Montana admitted during that 2023 conversation.
Listen to Tim Montana on Loudwire Nights — Aug. 30, 2023
Earlier this year, Montana joined Loudwire Nights again and he revealed just how close of friends he and Gibbons had become: The two artists joined forces and bought a bar in Montana called the Wise River Club.
“Evel Knievel used to get drunk there and try to ride the pet elk at the bar,” Montana explained, moments before Gibbons crashed the interview (if you don’t believe us, watch the Instagram video below). “Some guy came down and brought me a sign that Evel signed for the bar years ago that said, ‘To all the gang at the Wise River Club’ … and we’re finding old photos from the early 1900s. Having Billy involved, he’s setting up all kinds of cool rock and roll memorabilia. There are posters everywhere.”
What was one small part of the conversation on Loudwire Nights has now become an official declaration as Montana and Gibbons released a statement on Monday, March 4, detailing their co-ownership of the Wise River Club.
“Our aim is to give WRC patrons a true Montana experience with lodging, food, drink and music,” Montana said in the press release. “It’s a place where guests can let their hair down and enjoy everything the Big Sky Country has to offer.”
Montana’s rock and roll dad added, “Tim and I have both played in quite a few honkytonks over the years so it’s high time to ensure Wise River Club’s place of history. The entire club is something quite special and now the welcome mat has been definitively deployed. The Wise River vibe is perfect to share with the rest of the world.”
You can learn more about the Wise River Club here and keep your ears peeled to Loudwire Nights because Montana has promised us his debut rock record will come out this year, too.
Produced by Micah Wilshire and mixed by Josh Wilbur, the upcoming record has Montana excited, to say the least.
“The creative freedom in this genre is so much more than it was [in country],” he told Chuck during their January 2024 interview.
“There, you had to write songs about certain things. Over here, it’s like you can put a rock album on and it’s just so broad. I’m excited for the creative freedom to do this stuff and write the songs I want to write.”
Listen to Tim Montana on Loudwire Nights — Jan. 5, 2024
30 Best Rock + Metal Songs of 2023
Thousands and thousands (and thousands more) new songs came out this year, but these 30 stand above the rest.
Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
