Hi everyone,

One of my favorite hobbies as a kid was playing “musical family tree”. Most of us know how this goes, you would discover a band you absolutely love and then you would scour liner notes and any article or interview you could get your hands on to piece together: “Who were the band members? What other bands did they play in? Who were they friends with? Did they have bands that I would like as much as this one?”

Thanks to the internet this detective game has become much easier, but in my early days, this was how I (and so many of us) learned so much about music and discovered much of what would form my musical foundation. Also- shout out to the Magic Platter listening stations where I spent hours of my youth in headphones digging through the used section and listening to stacks of albums week after week- that also helped.

Needless to say, I LOVE a good origin story and this week I have a really good one for you.

This RSD, Gruntruck’s Push (originally released in 1992), will be available for the first time domestically on vinyl. This release is one that hits close to the heart for our very own Matt Vaughan of Easy Street records, so this week I would like to share an article he wrote. This reads like a who’s who of the 90’s Seattle music scene and even gives a glimpse into the inceptions of Easy Street Records.

Here is a little excerpt on that:

“You might ask, how did a 19-year-old have the gumption to start a business, with rent, buying inventory, etc? I had worked at record stores through my teenage years. One was owned by a stepdad on the Eastside, the other by a guy on the Westside. Both owners had to get out at the same time, for different reasons. I’ll leave it at that. I took the lease, fixtures, and inventory of the West Seattle store and the remaining inventory and name of the Eastside store. I had to keep the name of one of the stores otherwise I was going to have to file a business license and all that. There was no time for delay.

The Westside store I had worked at was called Penny Lane, a very unoriginal name for a record store. After a couple years, I moved it down the street (where it still stands today), created a logo, and hired a couple people. I guess I had a knack for running a record shop, knowing what records to buy, what labels to partner with, what bands to support. I assume that gave me some cred with some of the local bands and the overall scene, but what did I know about rock band management…”

Here is a link to the full article, definitely a fun one.

https://www.revolutioncomeandgone.com/articles/19/gruntruck-most-underrated-Seattle-grunge-band.php

Thanks for sharing this one Matt!

Here are the charts.
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
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