Everyone has their own personal favorite.
The one place in town that had all the cool records. The place you didn't know existed until a friend took you there and you discover music beyond the mainstream. The place where you feel in the know ready to explore everything around you.
That place is your local independent record shop. You got your first LP there or you found it in college and go comb the racks every other weekend. Louisville's Ear-X-Tacy was that for residents and passers-through - the place in the 80s and 90s where you could get the cool imports and the college chart heroes like R.E.M. and The Smiths. Not that you couldn't get mainstream or classic albums there, it was just a vibe that made it the cultural center for like-minded rock fans through various locations in the Louisville Highlands.
Ear-X-Tacy was the brainchild of John Timmons, a college student who worked in record stores and decided he'd take his record collection and a $500 cash advance on his MasterCharge to chase his rock n roll dreams. He grew Ear-X-Tacy into the hip capital in town where you could search 10,000 square feet of rock, soul, punk, metal, alternative, local, popular and rare racks for hours. The Foo Fighters, Tenacious D and John Mayer would all perform there on their way to bigger gigs and several generations remember Ear-X-Tacy as a special place in their lives.
Like so many other record stores, Ear-X-Tacy is gone. However, John keeps the legacy alive with his weekly radio show (cleverly titled Ear-X-Tacy) where he plays the songs that he loved and inspired him to build the store. John also talks about his many community ventures like The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), The Louisville Independent Business Alliance, The Association for Independent Music and Keep Louisville Weird.
We share stories from the shop over the years, relive some of the biggest moments and thank John for all that he's done for music and for Louisville. If you have a John in your town, let him know what the old record shop meant to you and help keep them going!
Hear John Timmons from 7 - 10 PM ET on WFPK or LPM.org
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