The show must go on: New year brings new changes to Lexington's music scene

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When I moved to Lexington the early 2000s, music fans were still pining the 1996 shuttering of The Wrocklage on Short Street. Because I never got to experience it myself, The Wrocklage has taken on its own mythology to me, a symbol of the dream of a local music epicenter. That dream lived on with Lynagh’s Music Club before it closed in the early aughts, and was later revived at The Dame and neighboring venues on Main Street until the 2007 razing of the block that locals now disparagingly call CentrePit.

In the years following the demolition of The Dame, Buster’s, Mia’s and more, several new venues stepped up to fill the void: Cosmic Charlie’s opened in the former Lynagh’s Music Club location, new owners took a stab at keeping the Buster’s magic alive with the new location in the proposed Distillery entertainment district, and Al’s Bar transformed into a regular and beloved performance space for musicians and even spoken-word poets. At the same time, Natasha’s Bistro and Bar became downtown’s go-to spot for an eclectic selection of live music. Willie’s Locally Known also carved a niche in the former Buffalo and Dad’s location on North Broadway.

But as seems to happen every 10 years or so, 2015 was another year of dramatic changes in Lexington’s music scene. Natasha’s abruptly closed in October. Willie’s closed its North Broadway location — with plans to reopen in the former Show Me’s building on Southland Drive — and Buster’s Billiards and Backroom finally called it a day, with that space recently reopening as the Manchester Music Hall. A new Euclid Avenue joint, Best Friend Bar, became a popular campus-area venue, hosting local and underground touring bands several times a month.

This pattern of sweeping changes to the music landscape begs some questions: What gives with the local music scene, and what does it take to stick as a Lexington music venue? What will it take for Lexington to have a thriving, stable music industry that attracts touring talent while growing our own?

No one seems to have the answer, and in fact, there is probably more than one answer, but plenty of leaders in the music community are speculating about the challenges and opportunities facing musicians, venue owners, promoters and, of course, music fans themselves.

“Lexington is always changing,” says Mark Evans, a Louisville-based promoter who has booked talent in the Lexington market at places like Cosmic Charlie’s, the Kentucky Theater and other venues for the better part of the past decade.

“I think it’s sort of scary how quick venues open and close,” says Evans. “To me, it’s just going to keep changing because it’s hard to survive as a venue in Lexington.”

Evans, who lived in Lexington from 2000 to 2012, suspects that some of the struggles facing music venues come down to a cultural shift in how people – young people especially – engage with live music.

He says he has noticed a significant decline in local audiences’ willingness to experiment with new bands.

“A lot of people don’t go to shows unless they know who the band is,” says Evans. “It used to be you just went out to see who’s playing and then you became a fan.”

Evans says this spirit of experimentation was a hallmark of anchor venues like The Dame, which was open most nights.

Local musician Maggie Lander has another phrase for this openness to experimentation: consumer confidence.

“One thing we need is more consumer confidence, people coming out to venues knowing the shows will be good regardless if they know who is playing,” says Lander.

Art Shechet, former co-owner of Natasha’s and longtime board member for the Lexington Area Music Alliance, suspects that some of lack of consumer confidence could be attributed to the Great Recession.

“People are watching how they spend their money, and they wanna know they’re going to have an experience they enjoy,” says Shechet, who adds that some deeper cultural shifts may also be at play.

“I do wonder whether there’s something more fundamental going on,” says Shechet.

“Louisville just lost a number of live music venues, and it’s happening in other parts of the country too,” says Shechet. “I think one wonders whether there is something more fundamental going on in terms of how people are accessing music these days. People can easily access music any time or any place.”

Over the same period of time when smartphones and music streaming services like Spotify or Pandora became ubiquitous, Lexington’s scene lost its geographical center of gravity, which had always been downtown.

Shechet also says he thinks the lack of a centralized music scene, where several venues are in walking distance, has been one of the ongoing barriers to a vibrant music scene in Lexington.

“If I go to the Green Lantern, ’cause that’s where my friends hang out, there’s nothing else around there in terms of live music, where if I stepped outside and heard music coming from another place, I could say to my friends ‘why don’t we see what’s going on over there,’” says Shechet.

“That’s the kind of music-going you can do in places like Austin, where you have this compact musical part of the city,” says Shechet. “We never have had that in a lot of ways.”

However, downtown’s relative vacancy has been balanced by a resurgence of venues in other parts of town. It seems that in the near future anyway, Lexington’s music scene is going to be cultivated in neighborhoods, new sectors of downtown, and even in alternative spaces like living rooms and churches.

Wilson Sebastian, who owns Willie’s Locally Known, says that although his bar succeeded in establishing a loyal clientele of music fans who enjoyed the venue’s Americana-leaning vibe, he felt like their North Broadway location was a little too remote to tap into the energy of resurgence in the North Limestone and Jefferson Street areas. He thinks he will be able to cultivate more of a scene in the Southland corridor, not to mention make major upgrades in space and both kitchen and sound equipment.

“Everything that’s going on with the north end of town is great,” says Sebastian. “We felt like we were a little bit on an island. Even from Jefferson Street to North Lime, you’d really need to get in a car to get to us, so we didn’t benefit from it so much.”

“A lot of our clientele are from the Southland Drive area,” Sebastian says about his new locale. “It’s just a great neighborhood – it’s got some soul to it. There are a lot of cool, independently owned businesses nearby. It’s an ideal location for us, and the building in particular seemed to be the right square footage with enough parking.”

Whereas the former Willie’s could seat 67 customers at tables, the new Willie’s, which is slated to open in February, will have 165. They will also be able to offer an expanded menu – an important factor since it is the restaurant and bar side of the business that keeps the music going.

“Music is what it’s all about, but at the same time it couldn’t exist without the restaurant,” says Sebastian. “We have to hit a homerun with the restaurant, and then the music drives the energy and the vibe.”

Sebastian’s analysis leads to a sobering truth.

“Ultimately live music is not a moneymaking proposition in this town,” he says. “Certainly not at the 100-200 cap room.”

Since Lexington’s venues are almost all small – except for places like the Lyric Theatre, Manchester Music Hall, and the Opera House – it’s a problem that most venue owners like Sebastian and Shechet have encountered.

“A small musical venue is just a bar with music or a restaurant with music,” says Shechet. “The music doesn’t pay for itself. Places stay alive because they sell enough stuff or it’s a restaurant like we were.”

One venue making this model work for them is Best Friend Bar, which Evans says he considers one of the most happening spots in town right now when it comes to live music.

“They’re beating every venue in town,” says Evans. “They’re bringing in high-quality rock and roll and creating a scene that Lexington needs.”

“Every time I go to Cosmic Charlie’s, I always go across the street and see what they have, and it’s always high quality. It’s a musician’s bar,” he added.

The Lexington Area Music Alliance (LAMA) would love for Lexington to become a musician’s town. To do that, though, they intend to focus on audience development.

“One thing we’re going to be focusing on is creating a real musical brand for Lexington,” says Shechet. “Some places like Asheville [N.C] have really established a strong musical brand. We have to be known in the circuit as a great city to play in.”

Getting more national and regional touring acts to come to Lexington is not just a key component of audience development, but is a boon for local artists as well, who are often booked as opening acts.

“We get new exposure and the opportunity to build a better fan base in town,” says Lander.

One way to attract more touring talent is by making sure visiting musicians have a wonderful experience.

“LAMA is going to be working on providing resources so that when touring musicians come into town really, they have a great experience here through various initiatives that will roll out over the next year or so,” says Shechet.

Another challenge Lexington faces is simply the numbers game. While Lexington’s population continues to grow, it’s still significantly smaller than surrounding markets like Louisville and Cincinnati.

That means it can be riskier for promoters who book acts in larger venues because ticket sales are less predictable, even though costs can be as high or higher.

“A lot of the prices are pretty high for those rooms in Lexington, and that makes it hard for outside promoters to come in,” says Evans. “Doing a show at one of the larger venues – it’s going to cost a few grand out the gate. That’s not counting paying the band and paying for advertising. Promoters who can bring the bigger shows get scared off because the pricing is a little bit higher in Lexington than it is in other cities.”

Figuring out what will make Lexington’s music landscape truly robust is an ongoing endeavor filled with a mix of debate, consternation, determination and hope. It seems as soon as that landscape begins to settle, it changes again.

The new year will no doubt be a pivotal one, as music supporters watch how Manchester Music Hall, Willie’s, and other venues impact the music scene. But there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on – there’s more than enough talent and drive here to put Lexington on the live music map.

“We punch way above our weight in terms of the musical talent we have in this city, across all genres” says Shechet. “We have an amazing plethora of talented people.”

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