We Need To Discuss The Sale of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop
Before we get started here, we all just need to appreciate that the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Lower Broadway in Nashville is not just a building, and it’s not just a business. It isn’t just brick and mortar, any more than the Ryman Auditorium is. It is a cultural institution and landmark of country music whose fate should be the of concern of all country music fans, and all advocates for historical and cultural preservation.
First opened in 1947 on Commerce St. as a retail enterprise for country legend Ernest Tubb, it moved to its more iconic location on Broadway in 1951. Frustrated at the lack of country records stocked at many retail establishments across the country, instead of complaining about it, Ernest Tubb decided to do something about it, opening up the store right around the corner from the Ryman Auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry was held.
The location also became the venue for the Midnite Jamboree—the official/unofficial afterparty of the Opry every Saturday night. Along with the record shop becoming a landmark, the Midnite Jamboree also became a cultural staple. This is where Loretta Lynn got her big break, and dedicated a song to Patsy Cline as she laid in a hospital bed after a tragic auto accident—just one of many legendary moments in country history facilitated by the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, and the Midnite Jamboree.
Soon both the Ernest Tubb Record Shops, and the Midnite Jamboree became national institutions. Multiple ET Record Shops opened across the country, including in Pigeon Forge, TN and Fort Worth, TX. The Midnite Jamboree was broadcast on WSM in Nashville, and simulcast in scores of markets.
Of course, as retail sales of albums cratered in the wake of digital music, the satellite Ernest Tubb Record Shops folded, as did another location in Nashville near the current home of the Grand Ole Opry in the Music Valley Shopping Center. That location closed in March of 2016. Ernest Tubb’s “Green Hornet” tour bus that the shopping center was quite literally built around still remains a part of the building. That left the Ernest Tubb Record Shop location at 417 Broadway as the final outlet.
On Friday, March 11th, word came down that both the property, and the business are being sold.
It’s with great sadness that we share the news that the Ernest Tubb Record Shop — building and business — will be sold.
Our goal has always been to protect, promote and preserve the great history of the record shop and building. That desire remains as strong today as ever. However, due to changes in circumstances out of our control, it’s now clear the best way forward is to sell the business and the real estate.
We are heartbroken that the store, which has existed in its current location in the heart of lower Broadway since 1951, will close this Spring. Preserving the history and tradition of country music remains at the forefront of everything we do. We remain committed to preservation work and look forward to new projects that will allow us to continue to protect and nurture the invaluable history and tradition of country music.
This announcement immediately sent shockwaves among many traditional country fans, Lower Broadway enthusiasts, and preservationists, and was especially shocking to hear since both the building and business were sold in August of 2020, and were believed at that time to have been placed in capable hands.
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was purchased in 2020 for a reported $4.75 million by JesseLee Jones, who along with being the singer of the Brazilbilly band, is also the owner of Robert’s Western World located right across the street, which is considered one of the last holdouts for traditional country and the original spirit of Nashville on Lower Broadway. The news of the JesseLee Jones purchase gave many proponents of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop assurance.
“The city is going through a lot of changes, and someone has got to hold the torch for old-school Nashville,” JesseLee Jones told the Nashville Post in 2020. “Robert’s is the undisputed home for traditional country music. Having been on the side of traditional country music, which made Music City, it just makes sense to continue that tradition by my buying the Earnest Tubb Record Shop business and building. My purpose is to protect, promote and preserve this great history. So this just made sense that Robert’s and Ernest Tubb be strong, be one and be family to perpetuate the tradition. Ernest Tubb Record Shops will be here for another 52 years, if it’s up to me.”
But now, it appears the Ernest Tubb Records Shop will not make it to the end of 2022.
This is not the first time both the business and the building have been imperiled. Nashville businessman David McCormick purchased the building and property for $128,000 in 1992 when Lower Broadway was at a low point. After the shuttering of the Ryman Auditorium in 1974, the area became mostly abandoned, with dirty bookstores and pawn shops moving into many of the buildings that once supported music-oriented businesses. In the mid 90’s, the area began to be revitalized by businesses like Robert’s Western World, and bands like BR549 and Brazillbilly.
In 2015, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop business began suffering from financial concerns, with the Midnite Jamboree being suspended on WSM for a short period, and customers noticing bare shelves at both locations of the iconic record store at the time. However, after closing the Music Valley location and focusing more on the Lower Broadway store with store takeovers for important releases, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop began to come back. The purchase by JesseLee Jones assured the public even more.
But about a year after the purchase, there were concerns that the transition from the ownership of David McCormick to JesseLee Jones was not as rosy as some had hoped. As new ownership and management worked to restructure and revitalize the business, updates posted on social media about the progress were dive bombed by angry patrons and former employees.
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop closed for renovations in August in 2021, and as part of that move, reportedly let go many or all of their long time staff on August 17th, including some employees who had been with the company for decades. Under social media posts announcing the temporary closing of the Record Shop, many voiced their concerns.
“Shame on you guys!” posted Darren Patrick Long on Facebook. “I worked at this shop from 1998-2013, and was proud to work with all of these fired employees. As a working musician/songwriter, ET’s was the best place to work, loved it. Happy to see it under new ownership, but not happy about the firing of such devoted folks.”
Another post said, “Care to explain why the entire staff of your store was fired? These are the people that built this establishment and created what you, the owners, purchased. An explanation about your motivations would probably be a good idea.”
Another chimed in, “We’ll miss Gloria, Earlene, Judy, Sonya, and Victor and all the newbies. They were always there thru the good times and mostly important for the Country & Western Music. Their collective knowledge will never be replaced.”
Also as part of the realignment, the Midnite Jamboree was moved from the Texas Troubadour Theater in the same Music Valley Shopping Center where the other Ernest Tubb Record Shop had been located (that closed in 2016), back to the original Lower Broadway location. Then in September of 2021, the long time host of the Jamboree, Jennifer Herron, announced her resignation.
“What a blessing and surreal statement to say I have been on the air on WSM for over twenty years,” Herron said. “From a daily air shift and beyond, that included an 18 year run as the Hostess/Announcer of Country Music’s Second Longest Running Radio Show, The Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree. I am so proud of my work at the Midnite Jamboree. It has been my heart and passion and I have remained loyal to the principles, but now feel it is time to step aside as new ownership deals with ongoing legal battles and demands for non-disclosures, along with other concerns.”
At the time, Saving Country Music looked into the issues with the new management of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, and the Midnite Jamboree, but struggled to find individuals with close knowledge on the matter who were willing to speak on record. Jennifer Herron’s assertion of non-disclosures and legal battles might have been the reason no one was willing to come forward.
Saving Country Music has also reached out to JesseLee Jones about the impending sale of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop property, but has yet to hear back. The announcement of the sale of the property was undersigned by “Honky Tonk Circus, LLC, ETRS, LLC, David McCormick Company, Inc.,” so it could be that multiple entities involved in the previous purchase and sale—including David McCormick—are also involved in the current sale.
But beyond the recent concerns about the business of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop and Midnite Jamboree, the bigger concern is about the future of this iconic country music landmark. Similar to how efforts were launched to save RCA Studio B and Studio A on Music Row, how the Country Music Hall of Fame embraced Hatch Show Print and brought it within the institution to make sure it didn’t expire, and the Nashville community rallied against the razing of the Exit/In venue for development, so should an exploration be launched on if and how the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Lower Broadway can be preserved as something more culturally imperative than maximizing the space for commercial purposes.
It’s unlikely whomever the new owners are will have concern about the history of that location, looking to make the property more vertical. And though previous and current owners such as David McCormick and JesseLee Jones have a right to recoup and be compensated for their investments, at times when historical landmarks are endangered, the issue should become important to us all, country fans or otherwise.
Only second to the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry itself, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop at 417 Broadway is sacred ground in country music, and all effort should be expended to make sure it is preserved.
At the moment, there are no public details on the potential new owners.
March 11, 2022 @ 6:46 pm
When the old ladies were fired and replaced by clueless 20-somethings, that was the first sign that the end was near. Who’s next? Robert’s? Layla’s? Tootsie’s? Hopefully something can be done to preserve this place in some fashion, somewhere in downtown Nashville. But whatever POS corporate establishment ends up occupying this space, I’ll never set foot in it.
March 11, 2022 @ 9:34 pm
Tom,
Did they really just swap folks out based on age, the way you’re explaining? Because if they did, that’s illegal.
Or, did they do it like major corporations do, where they eliminate positions, wait 90 days, and then open new positions?
March 11, 2022 @ 9:42 pm
From the accounts that I have seen—and again, nobody seems to want to speak on record—they simply cleaned house and fired everyone, or virtually everyone. Though they may have not specifically fired people or hired people based on age, from what some have said, they were asking for head shots from applicants, which seems a bit strange for retail. I think this story is just beginning, and has numerous tentacles.
March 12, 2022 @ 7:21 am
From what you’re describing, it sounds like they were hiring based on physical attractiveness, which isn’t illegal, as far as I know; just dumb…unless that’s your business model, like Hooters or something.
March 11, 2022 @ 7:15 pm
With C(c)ountry Music having passed away in the late 90s, this was inevitable. Sad, but inevitable. I worked there a long time ago, with a lot of good people. I even worked in the mail order department, and took orders over the phone. Our customers would request us by name when they called.
Think of this as another legend being laid in the ground.
March 11, 2022 @ 7:35 pm
You know, Honky,
This is a good time to say “Context is everything.”
Finally get a glimpse . : D
‘Bout damn time, son …
March 11, 2022 @ 7:51 pm
I’m not following you, Di.
March 11, 2022 @ 8:02 pm
: D give it time, you’ll get it. It’s a good thing.
In the meantime, this really pisses me off …
“Another post said, “Care to explain why the entire staff of your store was fired? These are the people that built this establishment and created what you, the owners, purchased. An explanation about your motivations would probably be a good idea.””
If the new owners simply replaced existing staff, & continued to sell the same product, then all i can say is KARMA, (by any other name) can be a real bitc*.
Have seen Karma in action quite a few times over the last several years.
Someone even said that when Karma comes back around, it accelerates.
March 11, 2022 @ 8:14 pm
Or you could just tell me what you’re talking about.
March 11, 2022 @ 8:31 pm
Apologies, Trig.
Last comment on this thread.
Honky, now have a bit of history about your tie(s) to Nashville, TN.
A better understanding of where you are coming from with your perspectives.
March 12, 2022 @ 12:11 am
Honey let’s just go on home
Have some onion rings and watch TV
March 11, 2022 @ 7:59 pm
Why the timing of the Mario Teran reference? It is a great one. He did the world a great service.
Yup. It is a sad day but not inevitable.
March 11, 2022 @ 8:21 pm
Sergeant Teran passed away yesterday. I’m just honoring a man who did more good for this world in 2 seconds, than most will do in their lifetime.
The closing of the record shop was absolutely inevitable; I’m surprised you’d say otherwise.
March 12, 2022 @ 7:14 am
Wow. The Honky Cracker, continually bringing politics to a music website. Post whatever you like, it isn’t my site, but please stop accusing others of injecting politics into SCM. It is your call of duty. You see yourself as a warrior for your beliefs, thinking that muddying up non-political websites with your views will actually change minds and bring your worldview closer to reality. Just admit it.
March 12, 2022 @ 8:27 pm
Commie
March 13, 2022 @ 7:24 am
It’s crazy because the topic is the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, where he says he used to work. There’s a lot of interesting stuff he could write if that’s true, stuff that people might be interested to read and would add to the conversation… instead he’s getting everyone to talk about communism or something totally unrelated. It’s just sad. Start your own blog, dude, stop trying to piggyback off SCM’s readership.
March 12, 2022 @ 7:23 am
Rest in peace Sargeant Teran..
March 12, 2022 @ 8:22 am
Ah, I miss it. Of course, the media certainly wouldn’t want to plaster it everywhere. He killed one of their heroes.
Godspeed Teran. You did the world a great favor.
I did mean to say inevitable. Was watching basketball and trying to post at the same time. Bring back the edit button.
March 13, 2022 @ 11:43 am
Yet Mario Teran later said that was the worst moment of his life….
March 12, 2022 @ 8:06 am
Interesting bit of Honky history dropped right there.
So I guess you’ve ventured outside the state of Alaska after all! /s
March 11, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
Many years ago I went to the ET record shop in Nashville in search of the incomparable Marshall Family who recorded with the Rebel label. I wanted a couple of CD’s from this legendary gospel bluegrass group. Found them and wore them out on the way home. Sad to hear. Man, is there going to be anything left???
March 11, 2022 @ 8:14 pm
That was about the only reason I cared to visit Nashville. Damn.
March 11, 2022 @ 9:13 pm
The Station Inn, The Country Music Hall of Fame, Johnny Cash Museum, the Bluebird, Carter Vintage, Robert’s Western World, The Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, and RCA Studios are all good reasons to visit Nashville.
March 11, 2022 @ 9:04 pm
I’m currently working on a historical preservation building project, it takes a crazy person with a lot of money to make it happen (that person is not me, though I fit the “crazy” part). Hope this one gets saved, I really wanted to visit if I ever get to Nashville.
March 11, 2022 @ 11:23 pm
Damn near every “record shop” in the country has gone out of business. We can lament it, but Pam Tillis said, there’s no use crying over spilled perfume.
March 12, 2022 @ 6:42 am
Over 1,000 record shops are doing great business across the ol red, white and blue. Take a look: https://vinylhub.discogs.com/
March 12, 2022 @ 12:18 am
The entire article, but that first paragraph especially, captured my feelings exactly ???? I literally cried I found out on Facebook. Its absolutely imperative this be saved, & garner preservation status in the process so this never happens again. I also want to add, ET’s influence on Country Music & the succeeding generation musically, independent from the Record Shop & Jamboree, cannot be overstated. Most of us know this. However, to other people of my generation, younger, & current fans of the stuff that’s Country in name only this is his notoriety. This is his Legacy. His name & face need to be in all their faces on Broadway until the end of time as a blatant & visual reminder of “Real Country Music”
March 12, 2022 @ 12:59 am
As someone who works across the street from Ernest Tubb’s, this hit me in the gut. Watch it be another fucking bar, because no one knows how to do anything else down here.
I did find it weird that they had been promoting non-country music very frequently over the last couple of years. And I never could figure out their hours, as it seemed like they opened the store whenever they felt like coming to work. I haven’t been over there in months. I do send them some business for souvenirs and t-shirts, though.
And it would be great if they would turn down the volume at Robert’s. My God, I go to the very back table upstairs just to eat in peace after work and sit beside the Williams family pictures. The best music and bar food on Broadway, but it’s so dern loud. ???? (I’m just cranky from still working down here everyday. Sorry…)
March 12, 2022 @ 2:40 am
Where’s the announcement about Palomino?
March 12, 2022 @ 8:35 am
100+ other sites have covered that Miranda Lambert is releasing a new album. I may at some point as well. But the world doesn’t need me to be 101. This matter is of much greater importance, and something I have reported on extensively in the past, and had been working on since last August.
March 12, 2022 @ 3:45 am
With all the mega millionaire country legends out there one would think than one ofvthem would put their money where their mouth is and buy the place in order to preserve its legacy. Are you listening; George Strait, Alan Jackson, Dolly, etc?
March 13, 2022 @ 6:45 pm
WSM radio or any other media outlet associated with the Opry could’ve/should’ve purchased the Record Shop considering it’s historic connection to the Grand Ole Opry and obviously, Ernest Tubb.
March 12, 2022 @ 5:17 am
“GREED, For the Lack of a Better Word, Is GOOD”….Gordon Gecko !
March 12, 2022 @ 6:33 am
I have been fortunate to make many trips to Nashville and always enjoyed my visits because there was so many great CD shops. On my last visit which was a few years back, there was just this one but with much more limited selection of music. I hope it can be saved. A vital part of Nashville and country music history well worth preserving.
March 12, 2022 @ 7:16 am
To everyone saying it has to be saved, I have some questions for you.
If you can’t sell enough product to be profitable, how do you keep the doors open?
Are you suggesting it be kept open as a museum, as opposed to a retail shop?
Folks, there simply aren’t enough people looking for Peewee King CDs, or any CDs for that matter, to keep the place open. Vinyl is too niche.
C(c)ountry Music is dead, and eventually, in about 50 years, it’ll be relegated to museums and history books, that very few people will visit or read. C(c)ountry Music represented a place and time that no longer exists. It’s easier to deal with, if you just accept reality.
March 12, 2022 @ 9:06 am
The best solution, admittedly without putting much thought into it, would be for someone, perhaps a wealthy country artist, donate it to the city or state, have it declared historic, then, yes, turn it into a museum and Midnight Jamboree venue that also sells records and memorabilia.
March 12, 2022 @ 9:58 am
That’s fine; but by turning it into a museum, you’re admitting that Ernest Tubb Record Shop, as a retail record shop, is no longer viable. And that’s my point; if it’s not a retail record shop, it’s not Ernest Tubb Record Shop.
March 12, 2022 @ 10:30 am
But it would be. Ernest Tubb Record Shop Museum. Even if it only sells a small amount of records as mainly a museum and venue, it would still be a record shop.
March 12, 2022 @ 6:29 pm
Douglas,
If it’s a museum that sells records, it’s not Ernest Tubb Record Shop. It’s a museum that exists for the purpose of memorializing what used to be Ernest Tubb Record Shop.
I’m not trying to rain on the parade of those who think it should be a museum; I’m simply saying the fact you want to turn it into a museum, as a way to preserve the business, proves that the actual business of specializing in hard-to-find C(c)ountry CDs, staffed with walking encyclopedias to provide a one-of-a-kind customer service experience, is no longer a viable business model.
Why is it no longer a viable business model? Because C(c)ountry Music died around 1997.
You want to turn it into a museum? Go for it. Better make it a 501c3 though, because after the new wears off, it’ll run out of money.
Why will it run out of money? Because virtually nobody under the age of 50, has even heard of Ernest Tubb.
Why has virtually nobody under 50 heard of Ernest Tubb?……………..etc, etc, etc.
March 12, 2022 @ 6:54 pm
No shit it’s no longer a viable business, it’s a fucking record shop. No one thinking rationally is saying it should remain a viable business. People are saying it should be preserved due to it’s historical significance. Jesus H. Christ, what the hell are you on about. Genuflect to Mario the executioner and shut the fuck up.
March 12, 2022 @ 7:03 pm
Are you upset, Douglas?
March 12, 2022 @ 7:25 am
Thank You for writing this Trig. Most important article and very much needed. Anyone who reads my comments or goofy, occasional contributions here, will realize I spend considerable time in Nashville each year, actually supporting all these historical places. Frankly, you are right, Ernest Tubbs Record Store really matters, and it is a CRIME to redevelop the property. But of course sentiment rarely, if ever drives real business decisions. For those who are perhaps wondering the whys, heres a few thoughts based upon observation, as to whats happening. The demographic: bachelorette party groups represent a significant part of the money flowing up and down Lower Broadway. These gals come to party and know little about Country music or its history..Because of this phenomenon, the place is a 7 day a week ATM machine for these bars. And hotels, uber cabs, and eateries are also raking in the profits. Any bar on the strip stands to take in thousands of dollars a night. All you need is a building, a semi-competent band capable of playing Journey,Johnny Cash, Bon Jovi, and Garth Brooks covers constantly, and a staff to serve the booze. Real estate prices are in the stratosphere for every last bit of space on Lower Broadway. And the rooftop bar is now all the rage, so as Trig rightly mentioned, developers want to build vertical to accommodate more patrons.You cant spread out horizontally, but vertically you get more capacity and thus more$$$. That means the piece of land that ET’s record shop resides on is worth a fortune. You and I see irreplaceable history when we look at ET’s, developers see an above ground gold mine.They are literally salivating as they calculate the potential.Poor ol’Jesse Lee has no doubt discovered this. And another truth.
What does ET’s do to make revenue? Sell CD’s and Vinyl? Thats yesterdays news. Now some of you are saying, hey there’s a resurgence in vinyl, and that’s true. But Country Music doesn’t sell like pop, hip-hop and rock, especially in the vinyl realm. So what do you do to save Ernest Tubbs Record Store? Maybe you set it up as a giant artist merch store?As in, a place where music fans go in Nashville to buy their favorite artists swag.Maybe some meet and greet activity on a weekly basis, to get people in? Just a thought. Maybe you tear it down, start over with a taller building, and have a restaurant and bar that still features the Midnite Jamboree and sells merch and music too? Maybe a giant name like Dolly could buy it and do something cool with it. I’m sure these are among the many ideas being thrown around. I don’t have any great answers and I’m bummed to see another piece of the Music City empire being tossed on the scrap heap of history.
March 13, 2022 @ 11:36 am
Do they not sell merch there? I go into record shops in every city I visit. Typically if the shop is just limited to vinyl and cds, they’re pretty dead; while the ones that have posters, books, some clothing, etc., are always busier. I also didn’t think about country music vinyl not being as popular as other genres. People like metal vinyl because of the artwork (and posters are often included) and you need your prog-rock vinyl to roll up the doobies. That being said, my pink Billy Strings Turmoil & Tinfoil version is selling for over $500 (I pre-ordered my copy and probably paid $25…which I’m not selling). Billy Strings obviously has a different fan base than your normal traditional country crowd though.
I wouldn’t think a record shop is going to rake in as much as a successful bar; but I can’t see a record shop in Nashville not being successful if it’s run correctly. It sounds like they’ve made some mistakes with that.
March 14, 2022 @ 4:25 am
I agree with you. The article is great. On the other hand people are not spending time and money in CD store anymore. A building like that is so expensive to keep running and without incentives to keep history standing is had to keep any business surving without revenue. So sad to see the Murder happening on Music Row. Alan Jackson bought a bar on Music Row, but in 2017 I visited that bar at night and it was empty. The young people wants to listen to Rock and Pop Country on Music Row. I bet to say that that Bar is probably running on losses, but Alan probably will keep it because wants too keep the Tradition. But no one has cash flow to keep business in debt for for long time. I pray for good music keep standing.
March 12, 2022 @ 8:25 am
At 13, I spent my allowance on music. At 43, I still do, and as someone who still buys physical media, this is very hard news, although not unexpected. Whenever I would go to Nashville as a lil’ fella years ago, there was something unique and magical about the town. It WAS Music City, USA. Billboards advertising new albums, Music Row housing only studios and not trendy restaurants; the industry and music permeating every part of it. However, Nashville has had an identity crisis since the inception of country music. One mayor was insisting that we get an NFL team to “put Nashville on the map.” Nashville has a unique legacy that is known worldwide, but if we start forfeiting that legacy for the sake of the next new thing, then it will be just another big town. If it’s one thing that Nashville doesn’t need is another cookie-cutter bar.
March 12, 2022 @ 8:49 am
Sad to see this classic institution go. When last in Nashville, it was sadly closed, but the time before I had a nice chat with the sales clerk who was reading lots of books about Country Music like myself.
Seems like the best thing to do with it if it can make a go as a music shop is to turn it into a museum, keeping everything as is. Just the sign out front and the Midnight Jamboree items in the back are priceless!
Such a shame….
March 12, 2022 @ 10:44 am
I’m 26 years old and live in Ohio, if I had the funds, I’d buy this myself and keep it up and running the best I could!
March 12, 2022 @ 11:58 am
This is so sad, you could find some stuff only at this place, I found the oak ridge boys singles A WOMAN LIKE YOU TO HOLD. AND LIVE IN LOVE, no way were you going to find these at Amazon. Or anywhere else. I used to love finding hidden treasures or very rare recordings. Really sad , I will sorely miss Earnest Tubb record shop, just like the singer, a priceless piece of country music and I am sad to see it go.
March 12, 2022 @ 12:42 pm
There is a GoFundMe fundraiser at https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-ernest-tubb-record-shop?member=17990573&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
March 12, 2022 @ 2:45 pm
With every Nashville visit (since 1982), I’d stop at Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop in downtown (lower Broad) as well as the one in Music Valley. I always preferred the Music Valley location since it seemed to stock more CDs, albums, books and souvenirs; not to mention the ET bus and theatre, and offer easier parking. When vacationing in the Smokies, I looked forward to shopping for classic country music treasures at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Pigeon Forge. When that store disappeared, I wondered at the time if the other ET record stores would soon close. I was disappointed when the Music Valley location closed, and feared the worse for the downtown store. As a long time record (and CD) buyer, it’s been sad to see many of my favorite record shops close over the past decade. This one really hurts!
March 12, 2022 @ 4:27 pm
With ET Record Shop’s country music history (late night shows, radio, etc) how did this place never end up on the National Historic Register?
March 12, 2022 @ 8:19 pm
I’m not sure how this could be done, but in the face of continuing change and gentrification there should be another establishment on Broadway that authentically memorializes past great establishments in a way that feels true to the past. Roberts is now the only hold out.
March 13, 2022 @ 5:20 am
All things must pass (yes, the George Harrison tune but also the title of the Tower Records documentary from a few years back). I visited the ET Record shop several times. I’ve been to the House of Cash Museum and Twitty City. Of course the loss of these places makes for bittersweet memories, but isn’t the fact that nothing lasts forever kind of what makes things special? Treasure the Great Escape and Grimey’s while they’re still around.
March 13, 2022 @ 11:19 am
Excellent eulogy of the wonderful ET Record Shop.
I spent countless hours and dollars at both locations and I’ve even spent some time and money at the Pigeon Forge location.
It will wind up being a bar which is patronized by a bunch of screaming bridesmaids.
I live on both sides of TN and I usually drive around, and not through, Nashville.
Don’t think I’m missing much.
March 13, 2022 @ 11:53 am
I remember the day I first heard of this newfangled format called MP3. I was working in a record store and I literally laughed out loud and said “who would actually purchase a compressed digital file?” I would have bet my entire record collection that this dumb idea would die an early death. Obviously I was flat wrong. No offence at all, but at some point we have to put some blame on people, not just greedy landlords and property owners. We call records and CDs “physical media” like that’s some dinosaur technology compared to the absurd concept of selling a limitless computer file.
I’m 51 now and I’ve worked in record stores since I was 18. I was recently in that same record store and had a really bad customer service interaction with some young twenty-something brat who thought he was mister cool. I thought back to the years I spent working in that same store and how we used to love our customers and used our knowledge to help get good stuff to good people.
I remember a favorite customer of mine who came to me with a copy of Chelsea Girl by Nico. He said “I need this, right?” I said “Yeah man. It’s produced by John Cale, so it’s worth it for that alone”. He said “Yeah you’re right. Sold!” That customer was soon-to-be-world- famous Elliott Smith.
As an aside, I recently scored an original sealed mono promo copy of Hard Times by Stanley Brothers. That’s going to mean nothing to most people. No problem. If “discovery” and “fun” mean nothing to the new generation of “music fans” than so be it. The world gains nothing by closing ET and other legendary record stores. It’s just that maybe it’s our fault as a society, and not the owners and proprietors of businesses.
March 13, 2022 @ 8:39 pm
Your point about the sense of “discovery” and “fun” associated with record stores is right on the mark. Back in the day, a record collection was a personal statement — it reflected countless trips to the record store, it reflected the discoveries and choices you made when you had maybe $20 to spend and you had to decide which record made the cut. Your collection was uniquely “yours” and in that sense, it was a sort of autobiography. Now, with streaming services, everybody has the exact same collection: everything. Kinda took all the fun out of it, if you ask me.
March 13, 2022 @ 12:43 pm
Sad to read. I would always go to ET Down town when visiting Nashville as it was so cool to find the hard to find and unusual. The Nashville I enjoyed visiting 30 to 40 years ago is no longer there, but I’ll keep coming in hopes of seeing another struggling corner singer with music case at their feet playing the music they love. I remember a girl playing and her mother was with her, we were the very first to put money in her case. We came by latter and they told us had they had been invited to play that night at ET Record Shop.
March 14, 2022 @ 9:06 am
Back in my youth I spent a lot of time busking on lower Broadway in Nashville. I played my fiddle and sang for every tourist I could. Those days are long gone simply because there are too many people down there to safely play an instrument on the street. The raging drunk bridzilla and her cohort of bleary eyed weary bridesmaids will literally crush your instrument case/tip jar with their $30 cowboy boots they bought the previous night. Then 30 seconds later the next gaggle of drunk 20something bridesmaids will use your instrument case as either a receptacle for their puke or as a makeshift chamber pot. If I sound jaded, it’s because I am.
Back to the topic of record stores on Broadway… I actually preferred the record store in Nashville that was next door to Ernest Tubbs because they only sold 45s and 78s and that was true up to the point when they closed in the early 2010s.
March 13, 2022 @ 7:42 pm
Not just country music that is dead/dying. Every genre of American music is really awful right now. Sure there’s a good band or singer here and there but overall music as a whole is terrible.
March 14, 2022 @ 7:44 am
They should’ve switched it up to focus more on vinyl years ago. Every time I went in there I was shocked it was still a store focused on CDs
March 15, 2022 @ 5:17 pm
I loved this place but it’s no surprise there’s no place for it in today’s “country music” scene. How many of the current tourists in Nashville have even heard of Ernest Tubb to be curious enough to look around? When Tubb started this shop it was much, much harder to buy recorded country music, particularly outside the South, so it’s no surprise it was a huge success for decades but today few people buy recorded music at all and with the shop specializing in traditional (and alas, out of fashion) country music it’s hardly a surprise they weren’t making any real money. I listen to the Midnight Jamboree fairly often and was wondering what was up with all the old shows being rebroadcast, as well a new person as “emcee” rather than the long-standing Jennifer. I guess in a way it’s a triumph that the shop survived Ernest Tubb himself by almost forty years. I’ll miss it.
March 17, 2022 @ 4:03 am
Tom–your last sentence sums it up for me. I was saddened to learn of this news. Ernest Tubb remains one of my favorite singers, I began ordering music from the shop while still in high school, and visited several times over the years. I remember when Ernest Tubb died, in 1984–and as you noted–the longevity and iconic role that both his music and the shop played in the 38 years since he died really is a “triumph” and a testament to the role he and the shop played in country music, and the great music that he recorded that can still be enjoyed each day!
April 16, 2022 @ 6:39 pm
This is a good article. So much I want to say but I won’t. However I will say things are not what they seem on the surface. A wise old woman once told me “You can fool all of the people some of time; you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” I find it hilarious that most people think Jesse is scum and David as a saint…I will just leave it at that.
April 16, 2022 @ 7:31 pm
Hey Josh,
There is some additional reporting on this matter here:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/how-the-ernest-tubb-record-shops-future-was-put-in-peril/
April 17, 2022 @ 4:01 pm
Meh. Worked there for 7 years. Sad to see it go but time marches on. The store has been run with a backwards business model since the 90s with no intention of looking forward by the owners or management. Stores like Tubbs are becoming fewer but there are still plenty of places clinging to the past in Nashville for those that are looking for a glimpse of that. Nashville has moved beyond shops like ETRS and is clearly focusing on catering to different demographics. There is a lot to be said for Josh’s last thought. The link to the other SCM post could be effective at garnering sympathy for DM if you had little knowledge of how a lot of things were handled. I have a feeling Josh has some experience though. Also lulz at asking anybody at a damned gift shop to sign an NDA. Wouldn’t want anyone to know how much those Orion Bear Family box sets actually cost would ya.