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Owner Dennie Humphrey put himself through Western
Kentucky University in Bowling Green while working at
what he describes as "a beer joint with awesome mu-
sic." He then worked on the corporate side of Jillian's, a
music hall on Barret Avenue that now houses Diamond
Pub. "I realized quick I wasn't gonna be a musician," he
says, "so I pulled them all around me." Widely known
as a music venue, the Monkey Wrench now hosts
fewer "hard" bands — many of which are Humphrey's
longtime friends — and features more roots music: jazz,
blues and bluegrass, the last of which plays during
Sunday brunch. "The music is meant to accentuate the
dining experience, whereas it used to be the hook,"
Humphrey says. He's even moved the stage to make
space in the dining room.
Humphrey and bar manager Jared Schubert came up with the decor based on
Humphrey's heritage of "outhouses and bootleggin'." Humphrey, a Louisville native,
who says he's the frst in his family to sell liquor legally, added strips of used, donated
bourbon barrels to the walls and bar back and hung artifacts and photos from his
family's past. Schubert and Christina Schedko painted the murals.
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