Goodbye, Yellow-Signed Road….*Updated*
Pinnacle of independent Irish music stores Road Records has announced plans to close in coming weeks. Dave explained the reasons behind the closure in a very touching post.
Its been an absolutely amazing eleven years for us and neither of us regret one single second of it, when we close I will not be looking back on wasted time in any way.
We have made some amazing friends through the shop and have had the pleasure of dealing with some truly fantastic bands [and their members].
Without blowing my own trumpet I do think Dublin will be a worse place without us as I think from day one we were always the most approachable store for Irish bands and their independent releases, it was one of the main reasons for setting up the store [some of you may remember the fact that I spent most of my youth plugging away in bands with nowhere to sell our music] and we have always tried to be as supportive to local music as possible, mainly because people in this country make music as good as if not better than anywhere else but have never had a proper outlet to sell it. We have always had a policy to make sure to play Irish music in the store so people in here can hear it and understand the quality and diversity of music being made in Ireland. If we heard something that excited us then we would always go out of our way to promote it as much as possible both in the store and on the site.
I don’t really need to spell it out, do I, what a landmark this store is, how much it’s done for musicians and customers alike, its working ethic of love and respect for quality music? I’m not gonna bore ya with recession waffle - the point is, Dave and Julie are the two soundest people you could meet in Dublin and the fact they run a record store, bending over backwards to source every whim and whisper is an added bonus.
Hot Press spoke to Dave about the news.
Please, please, please, get down to Fade Street in the next few days and pick up some records, soak in the bare board floor, the sunny yellow sign and easy-browsing vibe of this flagship store…it will soon be no more. A tenner and your time. Pick up the records nominated for this year’s Choice Music Prize or those that didn’t make the grade. Educate your family. Be generous to your friends. Or buy something new - JulieDave have great taste and can recommend something awesome.
I’m not sure what will happen with the website, if they might keep the Road brand as an online store. It’s too late to save the shop - for several months now they’ve been struggling and ploughed every penny they have into keeping Road Records afloat. A final valiant effort from their supporters may go some way towards paying off horrendous debts incurred. It’s a small mark of appreciation to acknowlege everything they’ve done to support decent, hard-working bands and artists in this country. There’s talk of a benefit gig and I’ll keep you posted on any developments but the best thing you can do is drop in and let them know you’ll be sad to see them go.
I’m not alone in stating I’m going to miss them terribly.
*EDIT* 16/01/09 - Thanks to Liamo for the title. We both copped the same headline so he kindly shared his second choice. Which is even nicer, really, just like his tribute…*EDIT*
*EDIT* 17/01/09 - Several musicians have announced efforts to support Julie and Dave by donating all the sales profits of records over the next few weeks. There’s a thread on Thumped if you want to get involved. They are:
Adebisi Shank
Adrian Crowley
The Bastard Rain
BATS
Brian Cullen’s Love Bullets
Butterfly Explosion
Cascade Sounds
Crayonsmith
Decal
The Dudley Corporation
GiveAManAKick
Groom
The Holy Ghost Fathers
The Hollows
Hooray For Humans
The Jimmy Cake
The Kybosh
Land Lovers
Large Mound
LPX
Marvins Revolt
Moutpiece
Mumblin’ Deaf Ro
My Brother Woody
Northstation
Omelette
The Redneck Manifesto
Rest
So Cow
The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock
Stoat
Story of Hair
Subplots
Terrordactyl
Ten Past Seven
Vimanas
The Vinny Club
Windings
The record labels backing artists involved are
Out On A Limb
Slow Loris
Richter Collective
Risc Records
There probably are more musicians involved via the record labels but I don’t know who/what is still available. Please let me know if you hear of more and I’ll add the name.
This is absolutely sound of the bands involved and fair play to all. It’s great to see loyalty is appreciated and rewarded. Go Road Aid!
Oh balls. I got my first Genghis Tron record in that store. I’ll be visiting it with more frequency over the next few weeks. It’s a sad day today.
agreed. road records will be sorely missed
What a pity! Got some great sounds there over the years. ENDA.
What a horrible blow!
Bought many things there, though not as much as I would have liked to.
So now the irish indie selection in stores is that one shelf in tower? Suckage.
Road was the symbol of music in Dublin for me.
Dave/Julie, you did an unbelieveable job.
A truly sad day.
Guys, thanks so much for the comments. It truly is such a staggering blow. I’d pop in quite often and stock up on all my latest albums and EPs and would have such a lovely while away of time with a coffee and my headphones on. You can’t do that in Tower, cool as those guys are about supporting local bands with instores, it’s all just promotion to them. For Dave and Julie, who also put on performances in the shop, it was about support, appreciation and respect for this country’s talent. As Dave said, they went above and beyond to give Irish music the props it deserved.
Someone on MySpace just said along the lines of… “you know when someone asked if you had a record, and you told them it was in Road, they immediately knew where to go.”
I wasn’t having a go at tower btw, its more the diminishing options being left thats pissing me off.
Might head into road records tomorrow and spend more money than I can really afford before its too late
[...] closing - and plenty of folk are blogging about it, including Jim, Niall, Thrill Pier, Una and Nay. Read the reasons why here and feel that pang of guilt at that album you downloaded instead of [...]
So, so, so sad to hear this news. Dave and Julie were so supportive of Butterfly Explosion and really helped us sell our music overseas through the website. They are true music lovers and I hope that in the future the Irish music scene will be enriched by them again.
The thing I loved about Road was that they would actually listen to the Irish releases regardless of it presentation or if they liked it or not and write blurbs. It’s was a very nice touch really. Take that Tower! I am heading in tomorrow to pick up some stuff I have been meaning to get in there. I’m assuming the good stock will shift quickly although I have no idea how big their “basement” is.
I think we’ve all secretly dreamt of being locked in Road’s basement.
The strongest reaction to this news has come from musicians who are devastated to hear their stalwart support simply couldn’t weather the storm. Sure it was just a record shop, as one booger on another thread mentioned, but what a shop, a tiny superstore. I’m sorry, as I’m tired and haven’t slept since wednesday and want to combine everything I’ve heard online into a glowing reference for these guys but the overriding feeling of despair at its demise has left me utterly drained. Words simply fail me. Such a crushing blow.
Meet you outside at 3pm for coffee and chats if you’re gonna pop in!
the end of the road. wish i could go back to the start and travel it again.
Nay
LPX is supposed to be on that list too
Thanks Leigh!
Martidoh…my journey ended all too soon
The Richter Collective would like to add these release to the list:
Adebisi Shank - Self Titled EP
Adebisi Shank - “This is the album of a band called Adebisi Shank”
Bats - “Cruel Sea Scientist”
Marvins Revolt - “Killec”
Terrordactyl - Self Titled EP
Vimanas - Self Titled EP
The Vinny Club - “Rocky IV Rekyrd”
Please add CascadeSounds Earthrise EP to the list.
Thanks
Fair play…maybe I should set up a stall on Georges St selling recession-friendly lemonade and donate all my profits from that!
I don’t think the bands are donating just the profits of those sales, more like ALL INCOME from the releases.
Oh okay…every little helps sure?
sorry to see it go!
I wouldn’t mind getting involved in a benefit gig
So sorry to see you go guys. My other half is devestated. He went in to commiserate today and was actually tearful leaving. There’ll be a lot less fights about spending the money for the ESB bill on vinyl in our house from now on.
You’ll be sorely missed.
Gary, I think developments are unfolding on Thumped.com’s boards…or set yourself up a good night
“There’ll be a lot less fights about spending the money for the ESB bill on vinyl in our house from now on.”
Maybe who gets to play what vinyl can make up for that one!
…My daughter just got home from school where she told her class about the store as part of their weekend news discussion. Bless
Will ya add The Kybosh to that list Nay? They were always very supportive. Cheers.
Indeed and fair karma @ u good sire!
A terrible sad loss to Dublin and all Irish indie bands. Dave and Julie were utterly fantastic to us and really went above and beyond to promote both our Eps. It is up to us now to give them a good send off by buying albums and eps from the artists named above and making sure they finish up with as little Irish stock as possible.And some of the stuff up there should be in everyones record collection!!!
There should be more news on possible fundraisers soon so keep on checking thumped.com for news.
Why thank ya m’lady!
So Cow would like to add himself to this lisht as well.