Morrow Records

Morrow Records sits in Florence, Kentucky, close enough to Cincinnati to feel the pull but still rooted in Northern Kentucky. Mark Utley describes a shop with wide taste, deep experience, and bins built for people who might be surprised by what they find.

Interview with Morrow Records

Florence sits right in Cincinnati's orbit but on the Kentucky side, which is its own thing. Who comes through the door?

It's definitely an interesting mix. We get a little bit of everyone, but most of our clientele comes from the suburbs of NKY. We do get some spillage of people from Cincinnati stopping down, which always makes me happy. There's a ton of great stores in the area, especially across the river, so it means a lot to us when people seek us out and make the drive down.

What do Northern Kentucky regulars hunt for — and does the mix differ from what a Cincinnati shop would see?

I don't think there's that much difference overall. We're only 13 miles (@20 minutes) away. That said, though, it is true that some people on both sides of the river treat that bridge like it's ten miles long and built over a river full of piranha. The boomers want their classic rock and hair metal, the young girls want the pop princesses, the genre-specific customers all want their thing (punk/emo/alt, hip hop, jazz, Americana/Country, etc.). It's probably more a difference in percentages, if that makes sense. Although I do think Cincy definitely has more hipsters. And I'm kind of okay with that.

Which section has been quietly strong lately?

The ones that have surprised me the most are Electronic (with artists like Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Autechre, etc.) and especially Soundtracks. There's a very healthy subculture of buyers for anime and video game soundtracks in addition to orchestral soundtracks, scores, and of course the various artists compilation soundtracks. Metal is always strong. Hip hop is always strong. Jazz and Americana/Country are as well, just in smaller quantities.

Do collections come in with regional history — country, gospel, Cincinnati soul and funk from across the river?

They do sometimes, sure, especially if they are from back in the day when there was much more of a sense of regional identities across the country, before everything got so corporate and homogenized. For instance, we see a lot more King and Federal label stuff than other parts of the country, I'm sure.

If someone wants to sell records, what's the best first step — and what makes a collection worth getting excited about?

Just bring 'em in, basically. Depending on quantity, we often ask folks to leave them with us for a day or two so that we can individually check every record we have an interest in. What gets us most excited are collections of things we don't see every day in the kind of physical condition that we don't often see them in.

What condition problems do sellers most often underestimate?

A surprising number of people don't seem to realize that they're not doing themselves any favors by bringing in boxes straight out of basements and attics in dusty boxes full of spider webs, dead bugs, and god knows what else. Also the folks who don't understand that if the sleeves are mildewy, stuck together or crumbling to the touch, containing records that look like they've been pulled behind a car down a gravel road, it doesn't really matter what the record is. Most people also have no clue about how many times records have been repressed over the years, and think every Beatles album is "an original".

What's a find or customer story that captures the shop?

It is not a rare occurrence at all for me to overhear customers speaking in amazement about something they can't believe we actually carry and have available in the shop. It might be my favorite thing about running a record shop. I've been a music fiend and record collector since I was a little kid in the early-to-mid 60's, I'm a lifelong musician and songwriter with several albums under my belt, and I've been working in record stores in different cities around the country since 1979. So if there's one thing I have a deep knowledge of and an abiding love for, it's music. Especially music on vinyl records. So, what I bring to the table is on display in our record bins every day, and it's very wonderful and rewarding to me when that connects with people and gets them excited about unexpectedly finding one or more of their holy grails while they're here.

First visit to Morrow Records — what should someone check first?

The section that contains their favorite genre or artist(s). They might be surprised at what they find. After that, the Rare & Collectibles section.

Last updated: 2026-07-30