How did it all begin for this couple?

One day in 1992 Richard was driving down Freeport Street .  He saw a sign reading, “House and Club For Sale”.  At the time Connie was still working at the Monterey House Restaurant as a waitress. She was ready for a change. Richard, already retired from the Houston Chronicle, had some time on his hands. After a telephone call and a couple of weeks of negotiating, they were moving in and started running the club.

Connie quickly established herself as manager of the club and became very popular with patrons. Richard’s career at the Chronicle as a typesetter  led him to the creation of the Canary Club’s bi-weekly newsletter called,“Previews”, which has set the club apart from other local ordinary clubs.

It wasn’t long before a fellow named Keith Gilley, son of the well known Mickey Gilley, stopped and asked for a job as a singer/entertainer. Keith became very popular with Canary’s patrons and stayed on the job for fifteen years. Both Keith and the Canary prospered during this time. One day Keith decided it was time for him to move on.  Since then a host of different bands, singers and variety shows such as the Joe Valentino Show and the very popular Johnny and the Heartbreakers band have kept the high quality of entertainment going at the club.

Karaoke, a new word to everybody back in 1992, soon became a household word and all of a sudden singers were sprouting from the woodworks. Karaoke plays a big part in the club today, offering three nights a week of entertainment both for singers and others who may only care to listen to the music.

Canary boasts five nights a week of live entertainment with a monthly Calendar of Events available at either door, and now online at our website to keep patrons up to date on happenings at the club.

HISTORY
Richard, after a stint in the USAF, had been working as a traveling printer in many different daily newspapers from coast to coast and landed in El Paso, Texas where he met and married his wife, Connie in 1970. Richard continued his traveling ways taking his new wife and young son with him to show her the country, starting in New York City . The two spent a couple of years on the road, hitting all the high spots, going from the east coast and then to Monterrey, California and then back to Houston where they finally settled.
Richard stayed with the Houston Chronicle until his retirement and then bought the Canary Club.