The floor of Hill Country Barbecue Market pulsed with the booming bass of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” as a packed room of 20-somethings drunkenly sang along for the bar’s last-ever Wednesday Night Karaoke.

The Texas-inspired barbecue restaurant has long been a staple for college students and District staffers looking to crack open a cold one and warm up their vocal cords as a midweek reprieve. For one last time before the location’s closure on Thursday, revelers flocked to Hill Country’s basement karaoke bar to sing “Bye Bye Bye” to a mainstay of D.C. nightlife. 

Behind a glass window with neon red signs, the final Wednesday night saw a crowded room of faux Texans and students clad in black T-shirts and denim trying to steal glances at an iPad with lyrics in the center of the room where performers queued up songs. The patrons said goodbye to Hill Country with a performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” at the night’s end, saying goodbye to the massive Texas stars on the wall and wooden tables that filled the room.

For some alumni present at the farewell karaoke like Perrin Brown, a 2019 Elliott School of International Affairs graduate who now works on Capitol Hill, Wednesday karaoke did not end after receiving a diploma. Since Brown’s junior year, he was a consistent presence at karaoke nights, having been about 30 times over the past seven years, he said.

“It just became a natural place to see people you know and to sing with them,” Brown said. 

Hill Country called Penn Quarter home for 14 years and permanently closed its doors Thursday night after giving only about a week’s notice for regulars to gear up for its final days, a closure first reported by PoPville on March 19. The Eater later reported that the restaurant operated on a month-to-month lease, and the building’s agent, Marx Realty, terminated the lease this month, despite the restaurant’s efforts to extend their stay long term.

Replacing Hill Country is a New York City-based bitcoin bar, Pubkey Bar and Media House, offering patrons a menu ranging from waffle fries and wings to hot dogs and sandwiches, according to PoPville. 

Hill Country was the setting of Brown’s wedding rehearsal dinner with his wife in 2023, he said. Brown said he and his now wife, who is also a GW alum, also went to Hill Country as one of their first dates after they both turned 21. 

“My wife and I are both from the South,” Brown said. “We were told that there’s this place that has live music, country music, karaoke, and we went with a bunch of friends, and it was one of the best nights ever, and we started dating soon after, and so it was always kind of a special place for us.”

As “frequent flyers” at the bar, Brown said the band started recognizing him and his wife and invited them backstage multiple times to “hang out.” By the time the couple was poised to tie the knot, Brown said they decided to pay homage to their southern and GW roots by booking Hill Country for their rehearsal dinner.

“We did the dinner and then we had the band do the live music afterwards with everybody for the welcome party, and everyone was like, ‘This is the most fun wedding party thing we’ve ever been to,’” Brown said.

On Wednesday night, Brown said he and his wife, who was already downstairs dancing as he waited in line to get into the crowded bar, pulled together a group of D.C.-based GW alums to make one final night of memories at Hill Country’s last karaoke night.

“It’s kind of a dark time in D.C. depending on your politics, but for me at least, and I’m sad that a place that kind of brought a lot of folks together for good memories is closing,” Brown said.

The District is also home to a handful of other karaoke bars, like Chinatown’s Wok and Roll and Downtown’s Recessions, but Hill Country had set itself apart for its live band accompaniment and country aesthetics, regulars said. Hill Country’s 10-member HariKaraoke Band, which will now play at nearby bar Penn Social, has a repertoire of more than 500 songs for karaoke hopefuls to select. 

Kenny Lewis, the drummer and manager of HariKaraoke, said the band has been accompanying Hill Country singers since the bar’s booking manager approached them 14 years ago. He said the bar’s closure is “sad,” but he is satisfied with the band’s tenure there.

“I understand these things happen,” Lewis said, “We had a long, successful run, so I don’t have any regrets.”

Lewis said he knew a karaoke night was successful when the basement looked like a “disaster” at the end of the night, with broken bottles scattering the wood floors. He said the band is especially appreciative of the GW students, who consistently showed up and showed out for Wednesday karaoke. 

“That was one of our best nights because you guys all came in before classes started,” Lewis said. “You were, I think, our best customer, our best fan.”

Sophie Blackman, a senior studying psychology, said the novelty of the live band coupled with the “really, really bad vibes” of other karaoke joints in D.C. without a live band is what kept her coming back to Hill Country when she had a free Wednesday night.

“You just can’t get anything better than the live band,” Blackman said.

Singing Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” or ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” with her friends has made her Hill Country outings stand out, she said. Blackman said since she is graduating in May, she knew she would have her last Hill Country night at some point but wished the evening had come closer to her graduation.

She said she was saddened to learn the restaurant was closing its doors for good because the Penn Quarter institution and its fans “deserve to be here.”

“I feel like it’s not fair to the owners,” Blackman said.

After hearing of Hill Country’s closure, Carly Besselman-Goldes, a sophomore studying political science, was devastated and decided to head to Penn Quarter for her fifth time and the bar’s final karaoke night.

Besselman-Goldes said she almost missed her chance to get tickets for Wednesday, as tickets — which normally range between $7 and $8 — sold out quickly, but she ultimately got them after Hill Country released a second wave of entry passes.

“I was like, ‘I have to party one last time, sing karaoke,’” Besselman-Goldes said. 

She said she enjoyed judging the performances of strangers after a few rounds of Jell-O shots, as the range in performers’ musical talent provided entertainment that sometimes “shocked” her — with some destined to embark on a world tour and others that shouldn’t quit their day job. 

“Sometimes they’re bad and it’s funny, and sometimes they’re really good, and you’re shocked that they’re just regular people, and they’re so good at singing,” Besselman-Goldes said.

Besselman-Goldes said she’s heard good things about other D.C. karaoke bars, like Wok and Roll, but Besselman-Goldes said vibes of Hill Country are irreplaceable because of the “authentic” country and barbecue aesthetics. 

“I’ll just miss most the country vibes,” Besselman-Goldes said. “I love how everything is just barbecue and country, and it just feels very authentic.”