{"id":506,"date":"2012-03-01T10:18:15","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T10:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=506"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:20:47","slug":"the-end-of-all-music-in-oxford-mississippi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-end-of-all-music-in-oxford-mississippi\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of All Music Vinyl Record Store Opens in Oxford, Mississippi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finally. After six long years, Oxford, Mississippi has a record store. And not just any ol’ record store, but a vinyl<\/em> record store.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Newt Rayburn and Rebecca Long
<\/strong>from The Local Voice #151<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Local Record Mogul Bruce Watson<\/strong> (BW), General Manager of Fat Possum Records<\/strong>, has bitten the bullet and decided to give it a shot. “Why Not?” as he says, to a record store in Oxford in 2012. And who’s to argue? One look around in the End of All Music<\/strong> record store and you’re sure to find some vinyl you’d like to have in your home, playing on your speakers… It took me just a minute or two to find something interesting. Bruce Watson and David Swider<\/strong> (DS) are operating the at 1423 North Lamar Boulevard<\/strong>, across the street from NAPA Auto Parts<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grand opening weekend is Thursday, March 1<\/strong> through Saturday, March 3<\/strong>.<\/span>
Dead Gaze<\/strong> will play in-store Friday.<\/span>
Jack Oblivian<\/strong> will play Saturday.<\/span>
DJ HWY7<\/strong> will spin throughout the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TLV: So, why are you opening up a record store now?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: Why not? I don\u2019t know, I think it\u2019s time for Oxford to have something like that, you know. It was kind of a meeting of the minds and we said, ‘Let\u2019s do it.’ The building came open and it\u2019s just the perfect time to do it, I think. Vinyl record sales are exploding right now. They were up 25% for 2010, just in general, which is still a very small percentage of the market. But still, it\u2019s time for Oxford to have something like this.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been six years since Oxford had a record store. What are your expectations?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: It\u2019s hard to say. We\u2019re going to try to do everything we can to make it successful. We\u2019re going to be involved with Record Store Day [April 21], so\u2026<\/span>
BW: I think any kind of local music scene really needs a good record store with variety. I think that probably one of the pieces that\u2019s been missing in Oxford is a good independent record store. So I think it just all comes together.<\/span>
DS: That, along with Ole Miss\u2019 student population. Hopefully those students will help us out. When I was in college there were like 13,000 students and now there are almost 20,000 or something like that.<\/span>
BW: It\u2019s also kind of ridiculous for one of the largest independent record labels out there [Fat Possum] to be in a town where there\u2019s not an independent record store.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you think your experience with Fat Possum has influenced this setup?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: Well, I go into a lot of record stores and I kinda know what works. It also helped a lot as far as buying direct and knowing people in the industry. It\u2019s easier to get on the phone and they say, \u2018Yeah, we\u2019ll send you this and that.\u2019 So that\u2019s part of it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see there\u2019s a mix between new and used records. Are the used records stuff that you\u2019ve collected over the years?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: All of the used stuff is my stuff, yeah. Then David ordered all the new stuff. So, the used stuff is a lot of my personal collection, and I\u2019ve got a lot more stock. It\u2019s a lot of the stuff that was in Blue Heaven back in the day. When I sold the Blue Heaven building, I just put all the stock into storage, so I\u2019ve got a ton of stock.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, this is not everything?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: No, this is probably about half of it, maybe. When we decided to do this in November, I just started going through the stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of prices can people expect?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: It\u2019s a big range, and it depends on what you\u2019re looking for. We\u2019ve got records for a dollar, all the way up. Hopefully someone will come in and see something new that they didn\u2019t realize was on vinyl or new release that they want and they\u2019ll look around and find something for five bucks, ten bucks, or whatever. It\u2019s pretty price-friendly on a lot of fronts, which any good record store that sells used vinyl should be, in my opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t even remember the last vinyl store Oxford had. It\u2019s been longer than six years, because Hot Dog wasn\u2019t really a vinyl store.<\/strong><\/span>
BW: Uncle Buck\u2019s had a little bit of vinyl. Yeah, we\u2019re counting on vinyl. CD sales are just way down now, even on Fat Possum\u2019s new releases. Everything we put out is 60% digital, 20% CD, and then the rest is vinyl. And the bands on the road\u2014most of them don\u2019t even want CDs to sell. It\u2019s all vinyl.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One thing we’re curious about, is that vinyl\u2019s kind of retro or whatever, but it\u2019s making a comeback. How are you going to help people who don\u2019t necessarily have record players?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: Sell them record players.<\/span>
DS: We sell record players and they\u2019re extremely user-friendly. They\u2019re great record players, they sound great. Anybody can hook one up at home; you don\u2019t have to have a big stereo or anything.<\/span>
BW: You can hook them up to computer speakers\u2026<\/span>
DS: Or plug a pair of headphones straight in\u2026 They\u2019re really portable, and yet you\u2019re still getting a quality record player. We\u2019re hoping that a lot of people will see the records available and kind of start from scratch. Plus, a lot of people are telling me that they\u2019re plugging their record players back in, waiting to come buy records and stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much do your record players cost?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: Well, we\u2019re going to have some used ones. Those over there are $100.<\/span>
BW: We\u2019ll probably get in more, higher-end record players. But right now, that\u2019s just sort of what we\u2019re starting out with.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So you\u2019re selling vinyl records, a little bit of CDs, turntables\u2026what else?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: We have some t-shirts down there\u2026you know, that\u2019s about it. We want to keep it a record store. I hate going in a record store, and it\u2019s like a bunch of t-shirts and a bunch of knick-knacks and stuff. I like you to come in and know exactly what you\u2019re dealing with, right off the bat, and I think we\u2019ve accomplished that.<\/span>
BW: It\u2019s a record store. We\u2019ve got a couple of guitars in here, but it\u2019s not going to be an instrument store. If I find some cool instruments out there\u2014I\u2019m always buying stuff\u2014I\u2019ll put it in here, but we\u2019re not going to carry many instruments.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about local music?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: We\u2019re going to have a local music section. No one\u2019s brought me anything yet. It will be consignment, a couple of copies per release. Keep it simple, you know. We\u2019d like to carry more vinyl local stuff. I realize that\u2019s expensive and a lot of people don\u2019t have that. But we\u2019d like to stick to vinyl, kind of stay away from CDs. But, yeah, we\u2019re going to sell local stuff. I\u2019ve got some consignment forms to sign, and we\u2019ll throw \u2018em on the rack. Hopefully they\u2019ll sell and we\u2019ll call to get more.<\/span>
BW: Yeah, but we definitely want to support local music.<\/span>
DS: And we\u2019re going to have in-stores [performances].<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, tell us about that.<\/strong><\/span>
DS: We\u2019re having our first one Friday at 4 pm, and we\u2019ll see how that one goes, but that will probably be the standard, \u2018cause we\u2019re going to close at 6 pm. They\u2019re going to set up in that little hall there, we\u2019ve got a little P.A. system. Pretty simple. Free, obviously. Hopefully people will come in and see the band, buy a record. We can promote shows around town; if a band\u2019s playing [Proud] Larry\u2019s or Two Stick or wherever, they can maybe get a gig here first to promote the show that\u2019ll be that night.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, this is going to be a regular occurrence, then?<\/strong><\/span>
DS: We\u2019d like it to be. I really think that\u2019s kind of one of the responsibilities an independent record store has\u2014fostering the music scene. So, we\u2019re going to try to get involved with that as much as possible.<\/span>
BW: I think we\u2019re going to rely on the local music scene and the local musicians, obviously, to stay in business. I mean, it all works hand-in-hand.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve got Dead Gaze playing here on Friday, and Jack Oblivian on Saturday\u2026what else is going on this weekend?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: DJ Hwy 7 is a DJ from Portland, he\u2019s going to come spin some records all weekend.<\/span>
DS: He\u2019ll be here Friday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, y\u2019all don\u2019t have anybody playing on Thursday?<\/strong><\/span>
BW: No, we\u2019re going to have just kind of a soft opening and\u2026<\/span>
DS: \u2026see how it goes.<\/span>
BW: \u2026and make sure the credit card machine\u2019s working right, and\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bet it\u2019s not going to be that soft!<\/strong><\/span>
BW: I suspect you\u2019re right, yeah! I\u2019ve already had a ton of people tell me, \u2018I\u2019ll be there at 10:00!\u2019<\/span>
DS: Yeah, Tyler [Keith] stopped by just before you got here, and he was like, \u2018I already see things I\u2019m going to buy.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So do we!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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