Great Bend has been feeling the rhythm of music through town. The beat of the drum can be traced to Rhythm & Brews, a new nightclub located downtown, on Main Street. The establishment has become a hangout that serves up live music, food and drinks since opening in January. The dream of owner Dustin Chambers, he hopes the club will be a place the community can come together to bond over the love of music.
“People want to be cops or whatever. I want to own a bar,” Chambers said. “My dream is to have a place, and to be able to do this. It took me 49 years,” he said on the long journey to opening the new hangout.
Chambers hopes Rhythm & Brews will be another magnetic force that brings Great Bend together.
“Seeing them have a good time and hearing that live music on stage — there is nothing better.”Dustin Chambers
“I always told my wife when we were discussing this, I wanted it to be like Cheers,” Chambers said.
“We want to be the hometown place. We want everybody, doesn’t matter what background you come from, to be welcomed and feel welcomed.”
On weekends you can hear the bass vibrating the glass windows as patrons inside enjoy the tunes and libations.
“At first, it was finding the acts for the live music,” Chambers said on the struggles of first opening the nightclub. “I’d been searching the whole year prior to opening trying to find local bands and things like that.”
A few months after officially opening, scheduling acts is no longer an issue.
“Knowing that we have these live acts that are contacting us, now, to come and play, it gives me something to look forward to every single Saturday night,” he said with a smile.
Making Memories
Chambers spoke of the effect that music has on the events and memories people share. “People use music to define their lives.”
Chambers aims to aid in the creation of those memories for those in the community through the live acts that perform on his stage.
“You may not be able to know the artist or the song, but you hear a song that tells me the first night that my wife and I went out, the first kiss we had.”
“You remember and you attach the songs that you hear to these events. And it’s the most powerful thing in the world.”
Along with the live tunes, the club serves up drinks and food for the patrons enjoying the music.
“At first, we were just going to do the nightclub,” Chambers said. “When we found the building, we were like, ‘you know, we could maybe do both’,” referencing food and drinks.
The live music won’t be stopping anytime soon. Chambers spoke of some of the upcoming acts performing live at the nightclub in the near future. Some of the upcoming acts in the near future are: Double Take (classic rock) on March 28 and Jaron Bell (country) on April 4.
Chambers seeks to continue to expand the variety of acts that perform at the establishment far and beyond just live music.
“I’m trying to get anybody and everybody that we can that will come to Great Bend. We’re not just looking for music acts,” he added comedians and magic shows are also welcome.
“I just want people to be able to come and use our stage.”
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday, the club stays open late on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Mondays.
“These are the things that make me feel whole. We want to be profitable, but it all ain’t about the money,” Chambers said. To Chambers, this passion project is about making this town a better place for the community.
“I made a comment on the opening night, ‘Build it and they will come.’ And so far, it’s happening.”
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