This afternoon on the way back to the office from a lovely lunch at Dead-end Bbq, I finally took the opportunity to stop in at Raven Records. This was quite a treat for me because while the record shop provided a momentary step back in time for me personally as well as a reminder of so many neat things that I’ve enjoyed in my 20 year stay in The Scruffy City.
Arriving in 1991 as a freshman at UT, my pals Brian, Dave and I spent plenty of time strolling the Strip visiting various shops, buying baseball cards and deli sandwiches at the bottom, going to local and regional concerts in the middle and at the top, where the Walgreens and (I still call it…) Kinko’s still anchor the place, we would always visit Raven and Son of Raven. There was also the positively seedy Evil Eye Video where we would find the most obscure VHS tapes and comics.
A couple years ago I spotted a Raven sign in a friend’s garage and had a great talk with them about what I had missed in the local scene in the years before I arrived.
Today’s visit to Raven records, the smell of old cardboard, the stacks of vintage lunchboxes and Star Wars toys from my youth all stirred a metabolic nostalgia for a place that never existed, a blend of my hometown of 20 years ago and the place I’ve made my home since that time.
The music of Apelife, Opposable Thumbs, The Suns of Phere,Quartjar, and others sum it up, you should check em out! Thank God for Todd Steed and friends.
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Interested in making some memories in Knoxville? Come to www.robsellsknoxville.com
No Jay, thank you for dusting off a great memory. I posted that after coming in one day to buy a couple records. I’ll be in again soon!