Soundtrax

Soundtrax is a record store in Morristown, Tennessee, where recorded music, live events, listening parties, and an arcade meet. Its stock includes vinyl and a large 45 rpm selection.

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Interview with Soundtrax

Soundtrax is more than bins — listening booths, a concert-footage area, an arcade cabinet, listening parties. How did the shop grow into that kind of gathering place?

Soundtrax has become what it is by me taking all of the things I have thought were amazing at all of the record stores I've visited throughout my life and mixing it together into one store.

Then I added from previous experience I have as a bar owner, talent buyer, booking agent, and artist promoter. I've tried to make it where the recorded music and the live music intersect.

And the arcade, that's just another crazy idea I had back when I owned my bar. I thought it would be fun to turn my downstairs into an arcade but never did, so today I'm attempting to put that together and see if I can make it work.

You keep a strong 45rpm collection for jukebox use. Where does the love of 45s come from, and who's after them?

45s are a strange thing. Nobody really buys them; they take up a lot of space, and they are very time-consuming to play, in that you have to get up every 3 and a half to 4 minutes to flip or change the record. However, 45s also can be very collectable if you find the right ones. Plus, even if you don't play them, they are fun for a casual fan to collect.

I started with 45s when I first started DJing in my teens. I'd haul them to house parties and the roller rink and play records all night long, so having them in the shop is normal to me. Probably didn't intend on having so many, but a lot of record stores don't even carry them, so they seem to find me.

Most of the 45s that do sell are with the picture sleeves. Then it's folks just looking to own that one song. Again, we don't sell a lot of them, but like baseball cards, there are gazillions of them out there, so we try to have a decent assortment for folks to choose from.

You're in Morristown, in east Tennessee. What role does the shop play locally, and who's coming through?

Morristown is a very interesting town to me. A very, very small "big city." I grew up in Detroit, so someday we will have t-shirts or stickers made that say "Motown to Mo-town" — still working on that.

I feel I can relate to what Morristown is, as it seems to be very blue-collar, and that is my history; Dad worked for GM. The folks that come in are as diverse as the world is itself: from 8 to 80, every color of hair you've ever imagined, collectors, fans, audio nerds (they call themselves that, so it's OK), and all in between.

It's so cool to see Mom or Dad buying records with their kids, or Grandparents buying with their grandkids. It's impossible to have a bad day when those moments happen.

The listening parties and artist events sound like the heart of it. What do those nights do for the shop and the local music crowd?

I feel like the listening parties have indeed taken on a life of their own. We're really the only shop east of Nashville and north of Chattanooga that does them.

They can be stressful, as there's a lot of moving pieces and the time frames we're given don't always line up with what we would prefer, but they are fun and folks do seem to enjoy them. Listening parties make folks aware that we exist that otherwise may not have ever known, and it brings folks together to listen to a record. Many times they enter as strangers but leave as friends — that's cool!

We also have done some off-site, which is a super fun way to cross-market with other businesses.

When a seller sets a crate down, what tells you fast whether it's worth your time?

The smell. Seriously, some of them smell like mud, water, piss, a basement, a storage unit, or everyone's favorite — marijuana.

Sometimes I'm wrong, and I always at least look, but the smell is my first indication of what's going to be in that crate and what the condition of those items will be.

What quietly sells for more than sellers expect — especially in 45s, where people rarely know what they've got?

Underground or alternative country sells better than I would have thought. We probably sell more Charlie Crockett than we do folks like Blake Shelton or Miranda Lambert.

As for 45s — it's the collectors. There are a handful of guys that are true collectors of 45s and they have found me, so they stop in every once in a while and buy a few. As for the casual 45 buyer, if it's got a picture sleeve, it's got a chance to sell; otherwise, not many of them move.

You can usually offer more on credit than cash — where does that extra room come from?

100 dollars cash is money I have to spend to buy the records in front of me. 125 dollars trade is money I've already spent, so it's a bit easier to go a tad higher. Plus, it keeps inventory moving; the number one enemy of a record store is having the same thing every time. People will get bored with us.

So trade is a two-fold advantage in my eyes, and hopefully the person on the other end finds a gem. Many times sellers are not record collectors or even customers; they just came across a box or a crate and are hoping to turn them into some cash.

East Tennessee summers are humid and a lot of records come out of a basement. What condition damage do you see most?

Sleeves take a beating down here. They get moldy and rip easier due to being damp; it is truly different than up north. Great question. Most would never think of that.

Has anything ever come through that you almost couldn't believe was real?

I get stuff all the time that turns me into a fan and not a business person. When I had a bar, they always say, "Don't drink away your profits." I can honestly say that discipline is even harder in the record shop. So many things come through that I have to actually talk myself into selling. Sometimes it's not even the valuable stuff, but just the cool and fun stuff.

Like just a week ago, I got my hands on Star Trek cartoons from the 70s on VHS tapes from the 80s. That's my childhood right there. They are still at my house and probably always will be ... just fun stuff.

On the same subject but totally different, we had a Beatles "butcher cover" come in just a few days ago. The all-time "grail" for record collectors. It was in rough shape, but still, there it was. I couldn't put together a deal to buy it, but I got to see it, hold it, and take a photo of it. That was super cool.

And then the folks that brought it in gave the story. Every previously owned record has a story, and her story was so cool. Her husband had bought it new when he was in the military and stationed in San Diego. So there I had a piece of history, a highly collectable record, and a very valuable piece in my hands, all thanks to a veteran ... so awesome.

I told the lady if I did buy it, I'd post her story on a paper and frame it with the record and hang it on the wall ... wouldn't even of sold it ... but they knew the value and wanted to keep looking for a better deal. I get it. I was just thankful for the moment.

What's the one record from your own collection you'd never sell?

There's a few, mostly not super valuable except for the fact of what that record meant to me at the time and has continued to mean to me.

A couple to list: the very first one I ever bought, Elvis' Golden Records. Mom had a hand in that decision, but I still have that record. Dad used to come home on Fridays with a stack of records, and that's what the family did on a Friday night sometimes. I still have many of those.

There's the 45 of Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song that my Grandmother bought when it came out in the 50s and then gave to me when I was a child in the 70s. I still have it. She wrote her name on it, so that will never leave me.

Last updated: 2026-10-18

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