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Published by Leonardo Calcagno
In collaboration with Kaneshii Vinyl Press
Who are you and your current job :
I guess you can say Viv & Dickey’s was built the day I met my wife July of 1998. We met in San Bernardino California at a Greyhound Bus Station. I was going back to Ft Campbell Ky from Orange County California and She was moving back to Dayton Ohio from San Diego. I saw her with a bag of records which contained the Smiths, Depeche Mode, Prince and the Cure. I had to ask about them because back then nobody I knew collected Vinyl anymore. She then complimented me on my Vintage 1950’s Hawaiian shirt I was wearing. We decided to sit together on the long trip (3 days). We talked and fell in love quickly and married 2 months later in Tennessee. We sold Records and Vintage clothing online for over 15 years. Melanie and I have been driven by the love of Music, Vintage Fashion, and Kitsch. We decided to finally open a store on our 19th Anniversary 2017 after Phillip retired from the Army. We rarely sell Records or Vintage online now, we want to keep our inventory for our customer base.
In which city are you located?
We are Located 17 Miles North of Nashville in Joelton Tennessee
What musical styles do you specialize in?
We specialize in having an eclectic collection of all musical genres. We want to turn our customers on to all kinds of music.
Can you give a small tour of the music scene in your town?
There really isn’t a music scene in Joelton we pretty much “Piggyback” Nashville.
What’s it like working in a record shop?
I would hardly call owning a Record Store work. We really do not know who we will meet, see or talk about. Our store is very much a hang and we usually have to wait until our “closed days” to catch up on actual work.
What mind-blowing album are you listing right now?
An 80’s Punk Compilation called “Cleveland Confidential” It is something that we never thought we would own. It’s killer because it has a great snapshot of the Mid-West Punk scene of that era
What does it take for an indie record shop to survive?
In our case we are learning daily but, being flexible to musical styles and trends. It’s super important to have fluid inventory so there is always new to see and listen to.
Record Store Day is an opportunity for people that have not been to our store or perhaps any Record Store. The special releases of vinyl genuinely get people excited about shopping for “Tangible Music”. To be part of Record Store Day is huge because it separates us from the “Big Box” stores but, puts us on a level playing field.
Tips for musicians launching an album?
Musicians who come to us that are launching their music are generally customers already. It seems like the best way to get the music out is at a grassroots level. They cannot have the attitude that they are not good enough to sell at our store, we listen to every local release that is given to us and we pass extra copies on to the right people.
5 local musicians/bands to check out!
Right now there are some great bands that we dig quite a bit and they are all very different in musical styles.
The Howlin’ Brothers
KAATO
Fuzzripper
Fever
Hunter Lovan (Guitarist)
Joelton [Tennessee] city guide x Melanie and Phillip Ruiz
Our little Town of Joelton is an up and coming “small town” we do not have much around our store. We do have a great Self-Service “Doggie Wash” Called “Colts Dog Wash & Market, people do travel from Nashville to wash their dogs and keep the mess out of the house. We also have a great Mexican Restaurant next door.