“Pre-loved” records are increasingly in competition with old titles newly pressed.
-- Photo By Michelle Morrow |The LedgerIt’s not hard to imagine that in Music City there’d be plenty of people buying music, vinyl or otherwise. Given the city’s history, one might also assume that country would rule the cash register.
Nope.
“We find the country fans to be more casual; they like their music as a backdrop to having fun and socializing,” Davis says. “They’re not the fervent collector types. The independent record store customer is more of an early adopter, someone who follows less mainstream trends and plug into new artists.
“Americana, on the other hand, is a store staple, along with pop. Jason Isbell (whose new album ‘Weathervanes’ was the focus of release-week listening parties at Grimey’s and several dozen indie shops around the country on Wednesday), Chris Stapleton, Casey Musgraves, Sturgill Simpson, those people are our bread and butter,” Davis adds. “Those and, of course, Taylor Swift are our biggest sellers.”
He also says jazz is selling better than ever, and he’s preordering more than ever when label Blue Note puts out a new tone-poet reissue.
“We’re everybody’s record store, not just the cool kids. If you want it, and it’s out there, we’ll get it. We’re really genre agonistic. Jazz, R&B, country, Americana, pop, we’ll order everything, see how well it sells, and then keep it around if we see a lot of interest.”
-- Joe Morris