Photo by Sara Hughes
Photo by Jon Psimer
A trio of music-loving entrepreneurs hoping to revive the spirit of one of Lexington’s lost treasures opened a new bar and venue in the city’s thriving west side Distillery District in July.
Dubbed The Burl and located at 375 Thompson Road – across the street from the James Pepper campus – the venue is designed with heavy influence from The Dame, a beloved venue lost to the footprint of the contentious CentrePointe
development.
“I’ve seen and experienced a lot of really good acts [at The Dame] – that’s something that I really miss in Lexington, and that’s something that we all want to bring back,” said Seth Bertram, who is developing The Burl along with partners Cannon Armstrong and Jomo Thompson.
The men have developed the building, built by Texaco in 1928 as a fuel and oil distribution hub, into an intimate music setting.
Armstrong and Bertram first used the Thompson Road property as a practice facility for their band, Chopper Brown, due to the lack of noise-level restrictions. In 2014, after the James Pepper campus started developing into an entertainment hotspot, they decided to turn it into a business venture.
“I think we have our own vision over here, which fits in with what they’re doing, but nobody is really doing what we’re doing, music-wise,” said Armstrong. “We’re unique. We’re not as big as Manchester Music Hall and places like the [Lexington Opera House] or the Kentucky Theatre or The Lyric, but we’re at that mid-point where we’re a little bit bigger than the local bars.”
The capacity at The Burl is 300 for shows, not including the space on a 12-by-90 foot deck. With a liquor license covering the entirety of the property, owners also hope to organize music festival-style events with larger bands in the parking lot, which they expect to hold about 800-1,100 people.
Under the booking management of Louisville-based promotions company Vectortone, which also manages bookings for Cosmic Charlie’s, the Louisville venue Zanzibar and several other venues, live shows with regional and national artists will take place at least five nights a week at The Burl. Whether it’s stand-up comedy or visual art, the owners of The Burl want to encourage creative expression.
“We want to be open to the artists,” said Bertram. “We don’t want anyone to ever feel like they couldn’t come and play here.”
On the other side of the venue’s parking lot, several garage bays will be used as gaming stations, equipped with ping-pong tables, pool tables, darts and arcade games.
Much of the industrial feel of the building has been preserved, as well as much of the wooden interior, which helps contribute to proper acoustics – something owners say is a top priority after customer service.
“We don’t want to be ultra-polished,” said Bertram. “We like the character of this building and the property. We don’t want to lose that.”