Nashville, TN | Rooftop addition, other changes planned for Ernest Tubb Record Shop: Nashville’s famed Ernest Tubb Record Shop is slated for some changes, including the addition of a rooftop. Brad Bars, who is one of the shop’s owners, signed for a $18.75 million Ascend Federal Credit Union construction loan tied to the property’s 417 Broadway address, according to Davidson County records. The building is being eyed for the addition of a rooftop, as well as the restoration of its facade to the original 1850 version, Bars said in a statement to the Business Journal. When complete, the record shop and merchandise will occupy one floor, a honky-tonk with a mezzanine will occupy another floor, and there will be a private third floor with a use that hasn’t been determined yet, he said. It’s “unlikely” that the honky-tonk will be celebrity branded, Bars said.
Taupō, NZ | ZZ Top’s ‘totally unexpected’ visit to Taupō record store: When ZZ Top members wandered into a Taupō music store, there was no shortage of records to sign. MyMusic Taupō manager Jason Hose – a big fan of “that little ol’ band from Texas” – had bought every one of their records he could find ahead of the group’s Summer Concert gig in the town on Saturday. He was “blown away” when Billy Gibbons and Elwood Francis popped into the Tongariro St shop on Thursday. “Things have gone nuts since they visited, everyone has been asking for signed copies of their records,” Hose said. “It was totally unexpected, they just waltzed in off the street, it was bloody cool man, I was lost for words – to have an artist that I love just walk into the store was just awesome.” Synonymous with beards, hot rods and spinning guitars, ZZ Top have been performing with Elwood Francis on bass and vocals – he stepped into the role after the death of original band member Dusty Hill in 2021.
Sheffield, UK | “The independent factor is at the heart of everything we do”: How Record Junkee and Network are flying the flag for DIY music in Sheffield: When it comes to fostering a buoyant music scene, there are three key ingredients that often spell success: good small venues, a smattering of medium-to-large-sized venues and independent record shops. In Sheffield, we’re blessed to have all three of the above dotted around the city centre, and in the case of record-store-cum-gig-spot Record Junkee and its considerably larger sibling Network, this holy trinity is united under one proudly independent banner spread across the space of a few hundred yards. …He founded Record Junkee in 2009, originally based on Cambridge Street, before moving to its current home on Earl Street just over seven years ago. A record store by day and thriving 150-cap live venue by night, it has grown to become one of the city’s most integral grassroots venues, playing host to the likes of Idles, Blinders and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes in the process.
Los Angeles, CA | Believing in Crateism with Black woman-owned Vinyl shop owner Fatima Chantel: Crateism is a Black woman-owned eCommerce site that sells a wide range of vinyl records. Digital shop owner Fatima Chantel curated this space for vinyl lovers and found a strong community based in Los Angeles. The L.A. Sentinel had an exclusive interview with Chantel where she explained her deep connection to music and how it shaped her journey. “I just love music—elders raised me; I was raised with good old music and they had records. I was exposed to a lot of old-school music and a lot of records at an early age, and I was addicted,” said Chantel. Her life began to take form as Chantel began working in record stores. …As a woman of color in a male-dominated profession, Chantel shared her experience maneuvering through the industry, stating, “I think things are a little different now—you definitely see more women deejaying, but when I first started out, it was kind of just me, the only woman. And God bless all the guys that were actually in my corner, and gave me gigs and stuff like that.”
Salt Lake, UT | Burst pipes brought on by cold weather leave a library and a record store drenched: “It sounded like every shower in a hotel being turned on,” said owner of Graywhale record store. A West Jordan library and a Taylorsville record store both dealt with water damage Tuesday from the same source: Fire suppression sprinkler units malfunctioning, spurred on by bitter cold temperatures. The water damage happened in the book drop room of the Salt Lake County Library’s West Jordan branch, and at Graywhale Entertainment in Taylorsville. The malfunction in the drive-thru book drop room — in the Viridian Events Center, at 8030 S. 1825 West in West Jordan — set off the fire alarm, and prompted the building to be evacuated Tuesday, said Sara Neal, the marketing and communications manager for the county library system. “We found out in the interim that, because it was so cold, one of the pipes in the fire suppression sprinkler system burst,” Neal said. “That triggered the alarm.”
Vinyl Growth Slows — But Is That Bad? After big jumps in 2020 and 2021, an overheated market may be finding a new normal. In 2020, after years of steady growth, the vinyl market exploded. Sales climbed over 46% in the United States, according to Luminate. Then, remarkably, they jumped another 51% in 2021. But in 2022, that growth plummeted to a rate that was far more pedestrian: Luminate reported that sales were up a little more than 4%. (Pull two juggernauts — Taylor Swift‘s Midnights and Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House — out of that number, and growth was less than 1%.) Year-over-year growth also fell in the United Kingdom from 23.2% to 2.9%, according to the British Phonographic Industry. “Some labels report sales are down,” says Nick Gordon, chief partnership officer at Symphonic Distribution. And big retailers like Walmart offered some titles at a heavily discounted price around the holiday season, stoking fears among the smaller players that those stores had overbought — maybe an indication of slackening demand.
Wishbone Ash celebrate 50 years of the ‘Argus’ album: Celebrating a pivotal entry in the history of great British rock and prog albums, Wishbone Ash’s ‘Argus’ album gets a 50th Anniversary multi-format box set release on April 14, 2023 through Madfish. Celebrating a pivotal entry in the history of great British rock and prog albums, Wishbone Ash’s Argus album gets a 50th Anniversary multi-format box set release on April 14, 2023 through Madfish. Complete with its indelible Hipgnosis designed album sleeve, 1972’s Argus saw Wishbone Ash (Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Steve Upton & Ted Turner) mix hard rock, blues, folk and elements of prog to create an album of resounding quality. Argus was the group’s third studio LP and undoubtedly the classic album within the band’s ‘70s cannon. It is not only the biggest selling album of their career, featuring beloved fan-favorite ‘Blowin’ Free,’ but full of timeless tunes such as ‘The King Will Come,’ ‘Time Was,’ ‘Warrior’ and ‘Throw Down The Sword.’
