There’s probably not another music venue in Kentucky like Glasgow’s The Grove. It’s tucked away in a secluded grove of 150-foot trees, yet it’s within the city limits. Those going to The Grove likely will need directions, since it’s not a drive-by “there it is” kind of place.
Located a few feet from 702 Happy Valley Road (one of the great names for a street in America), The Grove may not yet have been seen by some of the locals. The phrase “hidden gem” is used from time to time and certainly applies to The Grove Music Venue & Drinkery. Outside of the venue, food trucks, bars, and vendors selling The Grove T-shirts and sweets for dessert are nestled among the trees.
Upon entering the area, first-timers might even say, “Wow.”
“You just don’t expect this,” said one patron, who attended the Del McCoury Band-Wyatt Ellis show in mid-June 2024. “It puts a smile on your face.”
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The Grove came about in an odd sort of way in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jason Kuykendall and his family found themselves in a real predicament in March of that year. The governor of Kentucky ordered all “public-facing businesses” shut down in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and that included the main source of income for Kuykendall’s family, Ralphie’s Fun Center.
A geologist by trade, Kuykendall was one of the first called on to examine the sinkhole collapse in February 2014 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Eight cars plunged into the 35-foot deep sinkhole.
“The engineering and environmental company I was working for was called on to collect data to determine the extent of the collapse,” Kuykendall recalled. “I was down there before all of the Corvettes were brought out.”
The Kuykendall family opened its multi-game center for kids in 2012. The family had purchased the former 65,000-square-foot Carhartt building that also housed the Handmacher Garment Factory and developed the property into Ralphie’s Fun Center, which drew families from several surrounding counties. But the pandemic closed its doors.
“We had to do something,” Kuykendall said. “We were, for the most part, out of business with lots of people involved.”
The roughly 6-plus acres on which Ralphie’s sat included an acre of scrub land in the back of the property. “I had a vision. But first, I had to start clearing it out,” Kuykendall said. “It was scrubs, briars, thick underbrush with locust, pine, maple and poplar trees, but pretty soon, it began to come together. It took us about three months.”
Kuykendall envisioned a covered stage, a covered beer and bourbon bar, fire pits and a sound system that would make Nashville proud.
Ralphie’s reopened in June 2020, and a new stage was constructed in the wooded area. In October of that year, The Grove hosted its first live musical act, Michael Cleveland.
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Candace Barbee has been with The Grove and Ralphie’s almost from the beginning. She’s the public relations and marketing director for the venues. “I came into this at the right time,” she said. “We were using a portable PA. Now, we have great equipment that allows us to bring in first-class music.”
Barbee said The Grove continues to make the experience even better. “We recently added The Treehouse. It’s an elevated 2,000-square-foot viewing deck with its own bar. The views over the crowd and on the stage are so unique,” she said.
Swings—the kind you would find on your grandmother’s front porch—are available for clientele to enjoy. “We get so many families here,” Barbee said. “We make it affordable for topflight live music, and our patrons come from as far away as Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville and Evansville.”
Live music performances run April through September, and the all-age venue can seat more than 400. Children under 12 are admitted free.
Shows are on select Fridays and Saturdays. The Grove opens as early as 5 p.m., and the shows start at 7 p.m.
Most of the seating is with bag chairs on a first-come, first-served basis. There are reserved round tables with chairs, plus seats throughout. Food and drink are available from food trucks near the front gate.
The flexibility of The Grove allows Barbee and her staff to rent space for weddings, rehearsal dinners, family and class reunions, retreats, and school and church gatherings.