& Vinyl Records

On the day Eddie Van Halen died, a used copy of Diver Down appeared on the wall behind the counter of &Vinyl Records. If you looked closely, you would see two signatures. There could be no mistaking one signature. The long swoop from the last letter, which underscored the name, immediately gave it away. It was Eddie’s. The large “D” in the other signature was none other than Diamond Dave himself – David Lee Roth. The thing was, the record had never been in the shop before. By a strange stroke of fate, it had been brought in, along with a stack of records, the day before. The store’s owner, Tony Shrum, hadn’t gotten around to pricing and making an offer on them yet. When the news of Eddie’s death was announced that morning, Shrum found himself holding a bittersweet collector’s item.

“I then had several loyal regulars interested in purchasing the record,” Shrum explains. Not knowing who to sell it to, he placed it in a prominent spot until the right buyer came to him.

And that’s the thing about &Vinyl Records. The owners care about their mission, their records, and their customers. The Shrum brothers, Matt and Tony, originally from the west coast, opened the shop’s doors on November 5, 2018. The store’s stone exterior and brick interior invite the casual shopper to step in and explore. When the store first opened, vinyl record sales had been steadily climbing over the past couple of years. Three years later, the sales of that beautiful black-grooved disc are the highest they have been in thirty years. 

Clarksville itself is north of Nashville and has a population of 152,000 compared to Nashville’s 693,000. This means that the records at &Vinyl last on the shelves just a little bit longer, waiting for the right customer to come in and adopt them. “When people from out of town come into the shop, they’re likely to find things they would otherwise not be able to find at their local record shop,” Shrum says. One thing he enjoys most is seeing the immense pleasure on a customer’s face when they find something they’ve been looking for. It truly is a shop of treasures, memories, and something that can’t be replicated in the digital age.

“I think we’re in a time in history where having more meaningful experiences is being sought after; people are wanting more tangible experiences,” Shrum says. “When it comes to vinyl, a lot goes into the experience – the hunt for a specific record, the joy when you find it, the visit to record shops (either alone or with others), choosing and putting a record on, dropping the needle (gently hopefully), actively listening to the music. Sure, you can play pretty much everything from your phone, and honestly, in a lot of cases, that’s enough, but there’s a process and a journey being missed with digital.”

Walking into a record store really is all about the “journey”. It’s about going outside, walking, saying “hi”, and supporting a local business. While there can be no denying it’s much easier to pull out your phone to listen to Taylor Swift’s version of Red, but it doesn’t compare to holding it in your hand. It’s about community, something Shrum is immensely proud of. “I’m proud of our contribution to what makes our community great as a whole. Every town should have a record shop.”

Without a doubt, Clarksville is proud, too, as are the local musicians who are often invited to perform at the store.

It’s a great time for vinyl records.

And that signed copy of Diver Down? You’ll no longer find it on the wall behind the counter. Shrum found a home for it.

“A friend of mine has helped in the store a lot over the past year, and he’s a much bigger fan of Van Halen than me,” he explains. “So on Christmas, I surprised him with it as a gift to say thanks for everything he’s done.”

The next time you visit your local record shop, take a page out of Tiny’s book and say, “Thank you.”