As you know, two weekends ago I was in Nashville for the SPBGMA conference. While the conference ends on Sunday, I like to stay an extra day to get some work done while I am there, usually co-writing with someone in town. Unfortunately, my co-writing friend got sick, so she had to cancel. I figured it was a lost day, so after doing some driving around town, I headed back to my hotel for a quick nap before dinner.
There’s a strip along the road near my hotel where there are a number of small industrial businesses, and a block off of this road (Elm Hill Pike) is the Gibson Guitar factory, where they make most of the electric guitars. About a half mile from my hotel amongst these businesses is a building that looks like a 1950s era church. I had not paid any attention to it before, but on this particular day, there was a sign outside that read “GUITAR SALE.” I was not about to let this slip away, so I pulled into the small parking lot and headed for the front door.
As I walked in, there was no one around, but my eyes caught a large sign on the wall by what looked like a reception desk, that displayed a number of old record companies, including Gusto, King, Starday and Federal. These were all labels from the 1950s through 1980s that had some of the best bluegrass, traditional country, and R&B acts on their rosters. On an adjacent wall was a number of gold records from the likes of Red Sovine and Marty Robbins.
Wow! I had just entered a little piece of Heaven! Soon, a gentleman named Garry came into the lobby and showed me to a room that was all that I could hope for. There were racks of CDs, cassettes and vinyl, along with rows of guitars, ukeleles and other musical instruments. Some of the CDs were marked down to $1.00! I had to pinch myself to see if it was real! I texted my buddy Ken and told him that this was the type of place we would be running.
As for the guitars, most of them were the Urban brand, which is a make sponsored by country artist Keith Urban. When he started this brand, he was contracted with Yamaha to make the guitars, so the older models included the Yamaha tuning fork logo along with the URBAN name on the headstock. More recent models have an eagle on the headstock with the name, so I am not sure if they are still made by Yamaha. If they are, the price tag of $99.00 would actually be worth it, but I have way too many guitars in my house right now and am actually looking to get rid of a few, so I passed on those. They had some Urban practice amps priced decently at $39.00 and $49.00, but again, I don’t need any more practice amps.
Other musical instruments included some Jay Turser electric guitars that were priced at about what the going rate is on Reverb and eBay. The ukeleles were reasonably priced at $39.00, but I am not a fan of those. There were a few banjos that were priced above what I would pay. The counter display cabinet had some accessories, so I picked up a three-pack of harmonicas for my brother for $20.00.
Then I turned my attention to the records. The vinyl was all $5.00, and I picked up a Charlie Rich album issued on Sun Records, one album by The Whites, and a Pickwick Records reissue of an old Bill Monroe album. I don’t have a turntable right now, but I could not pass these up. I also got an album called The Best of the Mom and Dads. This group was a quartet of older people that played old standards that old people would waltz to (did I say “old” too many times?). They used to advertise this album on late-night TV, and my brother and I as kids would laugh at the commercial. So of course, I bought the album as a gift for my brother as a joke. He got the joke.
I didn’t bother with the cassettes, as I don’t have a good player, and at $5.00 or 3 for $10.00, it wasn’t a deal for me. But diving into the dollar CDs was a treasure trove. Bluegrass albums from Stringbean, Lester Flatt, Reno & Smiley and Carl Story, as well as some compilations and instrumentals. Country albums from Cowboy Copas and Hank Thompson. R&B and blues albums from James Brown, Freddie King and Big Joe Turner, as well as some great compilations. All of these were reissues of albums that were on the above-mentioned labels. If I would have had more cash, I would have spent it!
I talked with Garry for a bit, and he told me that his current company, IMG Retail, oversees the end-marketing of the remaining stock from the labels. The company purchased the church in the 1980s to use as a warehouse for the music items. I made the recommendation that he consider contacting SPBGMA to set up a small table in the exhibit hall at next year’s conference, considering that the warehouse is only a half mile away from the hotel and he could easily unload a lot of the bluegrass CDs there.
If I get a few days to spare as vacation in the next few months, I am definitely planning to hit Nashville again and visit the warehouse. I plan on doing some research on Urban guitars to see if Yamaha is still contracted to manufacture them. If so, it might be worthwhile to pick up a few acoustics and re-sell them.
If in Nashville and interested in checking out this place, the IMG Retail warehouse is at 1900 Elm Hill Pike. Garry says that he currently plans to be open Monday-Friday 10am-4pm.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 