Nashville, TN | Ernest Tubb Record Shop Says It’s “Here To Stay” Amid Iconic Sign Removal: Well either it’s a good sign or a bad sign. But either way, one of the most iconic signs on Lower Broadway is coming down—at least temporarily—as the property that has housed the Ernest Tubb Record Shop for decades goes through renovations to (hopefully) reopen in all of its original glory, along with newer additions to make the lucrative piece of real estate sustainable into the future. After a long-running custody dispute between the previous owners of the property and business, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop at 417 Broadway was sold to a group of investors for $18.3 million on July 29th, 2022—almost two years to the day. …But it seems like ever since, news about the property’s future has been scant, physical progress on the property has been slow, and it’s left folks wondering what is going on, and why it is taking so long.
Mt. Lebanon, PA | Needle & Bean spins records and coffee to build community in Mt. Lebanon: For 20 years, Michael Butala has collected, traded and sold records from around the globe. It started with a few records bought in the United Kingdom while on a work trip. After returning to his then-home in San Diego, Butala went to every thrift store around to keep growing his vinyl collection. Now, he pours his passion into Needle & Bean, his record store and coffee shop in Mt. Lebanon. “I want to be able to expand people’s music horizons,” says Butala, a Western Pennsylvania native who moved back home in 2019. Needle & Bean, which opened last August, features a variety of music genres with an emphasis on local bands and sells coffee from Onyx Coffee Lab from Arkansas and Just Coffee Cooperative from Wisconsin. …Needle & Bean, at 320 Castle Shannon Blvd., stands out from neighboring coffee houses by selling niche records and keeping the community at the center of its business model. Many regulars are neighbors of Butala and his wife, Irene. “Bringing the community together is always a priority…”
Nottinghamshire, UK | Photos: Here is where you can buy vinyl records in Nottinghamshire: Vinyl records have seen a renewed surge in popularity recently. Music enthusiasts no longer have to travel far to get their fix, as there are numerous places in Nottinghamshire supplying high-quality records. If you are an avid collector or just want to browse, here are some top-rated stores that sell vinyl records in the Nottinghamshire area. Main factors contributing to their popularity include collectability, sound quality, design, and nostalgia, attracting music lovers to enjoy their favourite music in style. Here are some highly recommended stores in Nottinghamshire that sell vinyl records, based on Google reviews.
London, UK | Rough Trade has opened a pop-up ‘capsule store’ at the Barbican: Head to the City’s brutalist icon to grab some equally iconic vinyl records. Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. Alien and Predator. Tupac and Biggie. Every so often, two icons collide, creating a proper cultural moment. Kinda like the new collaboration between Rough Trade and the Barbican. Rough Trade, perhaps London’s most legendary independent music retailer, has opened a pop-up store in the Barbican, brutalist treasure and beacon for the arts. Running until December, the ‘capsule shop’ spotlights a curated selection of vinyl records celebrating London’s thriving music scene, past and present. Jo Davis, head of retail at the Barbican, said: ‘We are thrilled to be collaborating with Rough Trade, a true icon in the music world. ‘Our audiences will be able to shop a collection curated by Rough Trade, representing London’s finest artists as well as featuring records from musicians who have graced our stage.’
Princeton, NJ | ‘Empire Records’ musical will premiere at McCarter Theatre Center: Lorna Courtney, Damon Daunno and Taylor Iman Jones will be featured in the cast. McCarter Theatre Center will produce the world premiere of “Empire Records.” The new musical, adapted from the 1995 film of the same name, will begin previews on Sept. 6 and open on Sept. 13 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Directed by Trip Cullman and choreographed by Ellenore Scott, the production is scheduled to play a limited engagement through Oct. 6. “Empire Records” features a rock score by Zoe Sarnak and book by Carol Heikkinen, who penned the original screenplay. The musical follows a group of employees who band together to save their beloved independent record store from corporate takeover. …“We are beyond thrilled to have this amazing team and incredible cast here in Princeton,” said Sarah Rasmussen, McCarter’s artistic director, in a statement. “Their talent and chemistry are going to bring the timeless story of ‘Empire Records’ to brilliant new life.”
Dayton, OH | Yellow Springs Brewery Record Fair spins again, releases new collab beer: Food, drinks and music will be flowing while attendees flip through the crates. Yellow Springs Brewery is putting a spin on summertime with its annual Record Fair at the Barrel Room. The free event will be noon-7 p.m. Aug. 11. Ten local and regional vendors, offering new and used vinyl, will set up crates for collectors and citizen audiophiles to thumb through in the brewery’s auxiliary taproom. “You see people kind of flip through the records, have a beer, flip through the records again, maybe get another record… then have another beer,” said Jayson Hartings, COO of Yellow Springs Brewery. “It’s kind of a loop of ‘maybe I do want to go back.’ It’s a really unique thing to have in our space.” The brewery has once again teamed up with Blind Rage Records (Dayton) and fellow craft brewers Alematic Artisan Ales (Huber Heights) to host the third Record Fair in Yellow Springs. The event is a way to promote and bring together Ohio-area record stores and for people to gather and discover new stores they may not have previously patronized.
Bob Marley Expert Roger Steffens Sells His Massive Reggae Archives in ‘Multimillion Dollar’ Deal: Longtime reggae collector, Bob Marley expert, radio host and 82-year-old author Roger Steffens has sold his enormous archive of vinyl and other memorabilia—which is widely acknowledged to include the largest and most comprehensive collection of Marley artifacts in the world—for an undisclosed “multimillion-dollar” sum. The archive, which has been valued at as much as $3 million in the past, was acquired for an undisclosed amount by Josef Bogdanovich, first cousin of the late director Peter, and one of four heirs to his grandfather Martin’s StarKist Tuna fortune. “It’s a privilege and a huge responsibility to the culture of Jamaica,” Bogdanovich tells Variety of the purchase. “It’s a monumental undertaking, but the work is so powerful.” Steffens, who has known Bogdanovich for more than four decades, says, “Of all the people who have tried to buy this collection for the past 37 years, he is the most qualified to do all the things necessary to preserve and promote it, and to return this history to Jamaica without any political control.”
Vinyl addict’s 200,000-strong record collection gathered over decades: Jon Ordon remembers the first album he ever bought. The year was 1980, Jon was 12, and David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) had gone to number one in Australia. It was the moment Jon’s love of music began. Jon said he would put on records and let himself be taken away. “It’s the warmth of the sound of a record playing that draws me in,” he said. “If you sit down and listen to a record on a quality system your mind can just drift … it feels like you’re there listening to live music. “There’s something about that vinyl sound that keeps pulling you back to the needle.” After leaving school, Jon became a chartered accountant, but music continued to be his passion. He started visiting markets looking for albums he could buy. “I’d often buy albums not knowing whether I’d like them … if I did like them I’d keep them, if not I’d sell them. “It started off as a hobby but then in 1991, I gave up accounting and got into the record world.” His world in the record business had begun. “My father said, ‘You’re totally nuts!‘
