Words by Avery Martin; Photos provided by The Lerner Theatre

On show nights, The Lerner Theatre does more than fill seats. It brings people into downtown Elkhart, sends diners into nearby restaurants, adds foot traffic to the sidewalks, and gives residents and visitors a reason to gather in the center of the city.

Celebrating its 100th birthday this year, The Lerner Theatre stands as one of the clearest symbols of downtown Elkhart’s growth and momentum. 

“What the Lerner Theatre does is bring people together,” says Carl Thompson, General Manager of The Lerner Theatre.

Originally opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1924 by Harry Lerner, the theater served as a centerpiece of downtown entertainment for decades. Over time, the building fell into disrepair as the city faced broader economic struggles. During the Great Recession, Elkhart was hit especially hard, forcing community leaders to rethink what the future of downtown could look like.

In 2009, Elkhart began a restoration project costing roughly $17 to $18 million before reopening the theater in 2011. That investment has become part of Elkhart’s broader turnaround story. 

Mayor Rod Roberson points to the reopening of the theater as one visible marker in the city’s shift from decline toward renewed growth.

“From 2000 to 2010, our population had declined. After we opened up the Lerner Theater, our population turned those declines into positives.” He says. “We were tracking at a 4% decline. Now, we’re tracking a 6% uptake since we opened up the Lerner Theater.” 

Today, the theater continues to serve as an economic anchor for downtown. Last year, more than 53,000 people attended events at the Lerner, bringing visitors into local restaurants, shops, and businesses.

The theater’s impact also extends beyond ticketed performances. Through partnerships with Friends of the Lerner, Premier Arts, and the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the venue supports community events, arts education, youth programming, and regional tourism.

“These are programs that we want to continue on a routine basis to develop and grow because we feel not only is it the right thing to do, it also helps to make a better community and a better world,” Thompson said.

Events such as Celebration Under the Stars have also become a major draw. Thompson said organizers expected 5,000 attendees last year but welcomed nearly 15,000 people.

For Thompson, that kind of response points to a larger opportunity for the South Bend–Elkhart region. A thriving entertainment ecosystem, he says, depends on venues, civic leaders, tourism partners, arts organizations, and businesses working together instead of operating in silos.

“As we begin to partner together and work together, we find synergy where we can build programming, where we can build awareness, where we can build an audience,” Thompson said.

The Lerner Theatre’s story is not only about preserving a historic building. It is about what can happen when a city treats culture as infrastructure. A performance venue can bring people downtown, support local businesses, strengthen civic pride, attract visitors, and help a community see new possibilities in a familiar place.

One hundred years after it first opened, The Lerner Theatre remains a gathering place. It also stands as a reminder that arts and culture are not separate from economic development. In Elkhart, they helped write the next chapter of downtown.

Learn more about the Lerner Theatre

From the backseat of a Volkswagen van to a billion-dollar business, Chuck Surack’s path to success continues to serve as an inspiration in Indiana and beyond. In this episode, Gerry Dick sits down with the founder and chairman of Sweetwater Sound as he shares the ups and downs of transforming a one man music business into the nation’s largest online music instrument retailer, all while keeping the company’s roots firmly planted in Fort Wayne. He also reflects on what success means today, the legacy he’s building beyond business, and his next big thing: what could be a $250 million project in northeast Indiana.

Listen to more of Business and Beyond with Gerry Dick.

Learn more about Sweetwater Sound.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton and provided by FAME

At the Foundation for Art and Music in Education (FAME)’s annual festival, third graders take the stage with music that is entirely composed and brought to life by them. “They write music based on the cultural theme, and then it’s performed at the festival,” says FAME Board President Andie Mosley. “That’s a real experience.”

Rather than relying on parents to seek out arts opportunities on their own, FAME builds its programs directly into schools, making music education accessible to every student. “We’re in direct contact with the teachers,” Mosley says. “We are bringing the students to our programming through the schools rather than just an extracurricular that your parents sign you up for.”

Besides the FAME summer camp program, participation in the Fort Wayne FAME Festival is free to students. With resources like Teachers Closet, teachers can borrow instruments and art supplies at no cost.

A January 2025 report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) suggests that access to arts education is closely tied to income, and without programs like this, many students are left out.

The report shows that getting exposure to art early on makes a difference: kids who spend time in the arts tend to feel more connected at school, more comfortable working with others, and demonstrate a more curious approach to learning. 

Sometimes, that early exposure carries students into the professional arena. “One of our founders, Dorothy [Kittaka], was at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and one of the musicians came up to her and said, ‘I participated in FAME my entire childhood, and it made me realize that I wanted to be a professional musician.’ That’s why we do this,” Mosley says.

But the growth of FAME is constrained by limited resources. “We’re making it work with a small budget,” Mosley says. “Funding is always our barrier.”

FAME runs entirely on a mix of grants, school fees, and individual donors, with much of the work powered by volunteers. Financial support is crucial for the organization to expand its programming.

Josh Flores, FAME design and marketing manager, says the impact is visible in students almost immediately.

“It introduces kids to the idea that their artwork can be seen by the general public,” Flores says. “When they see thousands of people looking at it, they get more confident in themselves.” 

Flores has focused on visibility as one way to help grow the reach of FAME. “Before, we didn’t really have social media,” he says. “Now, we’re trying to get more eyes on what we’re doing.”

That visibility is ultimately meant to support long-term talent retention in Fort Wayne’s arts community. 

Each year, the festival is built around a global cultural theme. Teachers receive materials, students work across music and visual art, and artists with cultural expertise help guide the learning. It all concludes with a public festival downtown where students display the art and perform the music they made.

The organization hires working artists for classroom and festival programming, creating a relationship between professional musicians and students just beginning to learn.

When those students and families come downtown for the festival, the impact extends beyond education. “People come in for events [like the festival], and they’re not just spending money on the performance,” Mosley says. “They’re going to restaurants, staying in hotels. It helps the whole community grow.”

It’s not the most visible part of the music economy, but it’s a piece that builds a strong foundation. “We want to make sure that creativity is something kids see as possible,” Mosley says. 

For FAME, that possibility starts in the classroom.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos provided by Take Care Records

Opened in August 2025, Take Care Records has quietly built a reputation among Indianapolis vinyl collectors for its carefully-curated selection, fair prices, and unpretentious, welcoming atmosphere. I sat down with owner and sole employee J. Rogers to talk about the philosophy behind the shop, the magic of physical media, and the moments that make running a record store worth it.

Avery Martin: How would you describe your shop’s philosophy when it comes to curating music?

Jon Rogers: My main goals are to have a wide variety of records and low prices on the records as much as possible. Some for collectors, some really popular stuff, some stuff that I am into myself. 

AM: What do you think sets your store apart in Indy’s vinyl landscape?

JR: The size and scope of it. It’s a pretty small shop. It’s always curated towards quality, such as trying to have only records that are in good condition, and things that I think people are really looking for. I don’t have the goal of trying to compete with larger stores that have everything.

AM: What’s a moment with a customer that’s stuck with you?

JR: I had a Phish box set of 12 LPs that a collector had sold to the shop. It was from a show that was in 1997. A guy came in for the first time and saw it. Apparently, he was at that show and had always wanted to own that LP but had never seen it in person. When you know it’s special for the customer, it’s very memorable. 

AM: Since you opened in 2025, how have you seen your customer base evolve?

JR: When I started out, the store was mostly known through word of mouth, just telling people about it and trying to get the word out to friends that they could sell their records here. We started with a lot of hardcore record collectors, and then as the store grew and the word got out, more people came in looking for classic and popular titles. I’ve tried to stock a lot of newer records since we opened. 

AM: What do you think keeps people coming back to physical media, when streaming services exist?

JR: There’s something very special about the tangible quality of holding something in your hand. Having it in your possession and knowing you can rely on it, that’s really fun. I collect a lot of movies and books at home and have for twenty-plus years. I don’t want to be staring at a screen or having to interact with the internet to experience the art I love all the time. 

AM: What band best captures the spirit of your store? 

JR: It would probably be the band Yo La Tengo. They’re one of my favorite bands, and they do a cover of the song “Take Care” that was originally written by Big Star, which is another band that I love. 

Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton

For a single opening with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, nearly 90 tuba players came through Fort Wayne. Flying in from across the country, checking into hotels, and moving through rounds of auditions that most audiences never see.

“In a typical job, it’s highly unlikely that you’d have 90 applicants coming into a city, visiting, staying overnight, eating dinner, and auditioning for a role,” says Brittany Hall, President and CEO of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

This isn’t just hiring. It’s a steady flow of highly trained talent moving through Fort Wayne. That level of interest is part of how the Philharmonic functions. Candidates move through interviews and auditions, sometimes returning multiple times and spending days in the city as part of the selection process.

“This year, we are starting a music director search for our next conductor, who will hopefully join us in 2028,” Hall says. “We had over 200 applications from all around the world for this highly sought-after position.”

The Philharmonic focuses on turning that interest into local residency by employing musicians who build their lives and careers within the region.

“I employ full-time musicians here in the city. They live, work, and play exactly where we are helping to serve the community,” says Hall. 

The orchestra doesn’t wait for audiences to come to them, either. They move throughout the city to break down barriers, placing music in the spots where the community actually spends its time.

“We have a 30-week season, which puts the musicians on the main stage about 22 to 25 times a year. Other than the main stage performances, they are out with small ensembles every single day, whether it’s at a school or a library,” Hall says. 

Beyond these performances, the Philharmonic acts as a stabilizer for the local creative scene, collaborating regularly with groups like the Fort Wayne Ballet, Fort Wayne Dance Collective, and local theater artists.

“I’m a big believer that all ships rise together,” Hall says. “The more that we can do to collaborate, the stronger all the arts organizations will be.”

That collaborative spirit is getting a permanent home on April 24, when the organization unveils its new headquarters in the historic former Fort Wayne Women’s Club and Chamber of Commerce building. The move into a downtown facility marks a new chapter of growth for the Philharmonic. While the building serves as a central hub, the orchestra remains committed to traveling around the region.

“It’s really part of our mission to make sure that we’re serving all of Northeast Indiana,” Hall says. “We like to move into venues that are the right size and fit for the programming we do, bringing the orchestra closer to all of our community members.”

By prioritizing these connections, the Philharmonic ensures that world-class talent doesn’t just pass through Indiana. Between the initial influx of global applicants and the musicians now living in the local neighborhoods and participating in the community every day, Fort Wayne is building a place where musicians can actually stay.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton

Sweetwater is often viewed in Indiana as a music retailer. But that description doesn’t fully highlight its role in the music industry.

With thousands of employees and a national footprint, the company provides infrastructure that supports music careers, in the systems that exist beyond the stage, the studio, and shows.

Most conversations about the music industry remain on the surface, focusing on artists, shows, and the industry’s visible attractions. None of that exists without the people and systems underneath it, handling the gear, the logistics, and the day-to-day work that keeps everything moving. That’s where Sweetwater operates.

The company employs around 2,500 people in Fort Wayne, making it one of the largest private employers in northeast Indiana. They span audio engineering, live sound, production, marketing, merchandising, and sales.

“We’re in the serving people business,” says Senior VP and Chief People & Culture Officer Jeff Ostermann. “We’re helping make musical dreams come true.”

That structure expands how a music career gets defined. In Indiana, that path is still often framed pretty narrowly: perform, teach, or eventually leave.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is there are many other segments to the business,” Ostermann says. “Marketing, merchandising, copywriting, recording, sales.”

Sweetwater makes those paths easier to see and, more importantly, easier to sustain. A career in music isn’t limited to being on stage. It can take shape through technical sales, customer support, operations, or content creation. The kind of work that stays connected to the industry while offering stability.

For staff like Kenric Knecht, Sweetwater’s VP of Merchandising, these roles are a natural evolution rather than a pivot. A drummer who spent years on the road before moving into the business side, Knecht views his corporate career as just another “gig", one where spreadsheet work is fueled by the same energy as a soundcheck.

“I might spend a day in a spreadsheet, but then I go home and play and realize: this is why we’re here,” Knecht says. “It’s my ‘yoga.’ That feeling you get when you’re playing an instrument…it comes out in the work.”

That immersion ensures the company stays locked into the culture it serves. Because the employees live the lifestyle, their insight into the gear is personal. “We use these products. We know when something sounds great,” Knecht says, noting that this is a connection that is unique to the industry. “If we were selling appliances like washers, dryers, microwaves, we wouldn’t be as passionate. I wouldn’t run to the mailbox to get my Microwave Monthly magazine.”

That kind of pathway is part of what keeps people in Indiana. It also shows up in how employees engage with the community once they’re here.

“We’ve got 2,500 employees here in Fort Wayne, most of them musicians, and all of them in their own way are going back out into the community,” Ostermann says. “Whether it’s playing out on a Friday night at a local bar… or helping mentor kids in music or teach lessons, everybody gets to give back.”

Ostermann doesn’t see talent as the issue for Indiana; it’s visibility. “The very thing that makes it so enriching—the humility, the quality of the people—is also the thing that can work against us,” he says. “We’re almost too humble to share what we’re accomplishing here.”

Inside the company, there’s also a clear expectation around the work itself. “We unapologetically say when you come to work at Sweetwater…it’s going to require a lot of you,” Ostermann says. “People are worth it.”

That expectation is paired with an effort to make those careers sustainable. The company offers mental health resources, an on-site clinic, and a free fitness center, reflecting a broader approach to supporting employees long-term.

It’s easy to talk about building a music scene starting with talent, and Indiana has that part covered. What’s missing are the structures that give that talent somewhere to go and a reason to stay.

Sweetwater shows what can happen when a music industry infrastructure is fully built out in one place. It also points to what it takes to build something like that in the first place.

“It takes a lot of collaboration…organizations willing to work outside of just themselves,” Ostermann says. “Bringing all the pieces together to make the whole really successful.”

The question now is whether that infrastructure remains concentrated in Fort Wayne or becomes something the rest of the state can build toward, creating more pathways into the industry without requiring people to leave Indiana to find them.

“I think it’s everywhere. It’s top to bottom,” Ostermann says. “From the small individual musician to the biggest organizations coming and saying this is a great place to do business.”

More opportunities matter, but the bigger shift is structural: building a music ecosystem in Indiana that doesn’t require leaving it to participate in it.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos provided by Red Bicycle Hall

During the right weekend in Madison, you might be able to catch at least 10 live shows going on. It’s not just a weekend thing either; independent venues are running shows through the week very often. Proving to be a cultural and economic driver that gives Madison its reputation as Indiana’s Music City. 

At the center is Red Bicycle Hall, an independent venue working to connect small-town charm with national talent. Tucked between major music capitals like Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago, and Indianapolis, Madison is uniquely positioned, and James Davis, co-owner of the venue, knows it.

“We want to catch artists in between Cincinnati and Louisville or Chicago, Indianapolis, and Nashville to be the space on the way,” Davis says. “We are trying to ramp that up and have as many cool things as we can while supporting the local music scene, which is tremendous in its own right.” 

Attracting regional and national acts while nurturing local talent is what gives Red Bicycle Hall its appeal. For a river city of Madison’s size, that’s no small accomplishment. Just like many independent venues, finding talent isn’t a problem; visibility and economics become the real issue. 

“The trick for us is marketing,” Davis explains. “We get a lot of tourism. If someone wants to come to town, they can visit the Indiana Music City website to see what’s happening. That’s been a tremendous marketing tool for us.”

Behind the scenes, community members help keep the ecosystem running. A volunteer-driven group, the Madison Music Movement (M3), contributes time, energy, and sometimes even financial support to grow the scene. Everything happening in town is kept up to date weekly by community advocates who remind us that this momentum is powered by people who care deeply about their city.

Still, the realities of operating an independent venue are complex.

“I think the biggest challenge that every independent venue faces is the economics,” Davis says. “You’re relying on shows, and you never know if it’s going to be a sellout or underattended, or if there are other things going on that affect turnout.” 

Despite this, the town is deliberate when it comes to economic strategies. Madison has its own ticketing entity, Mad Tix: a local solution that keeps even more resources circulating within the community.

Multiple support organizations, including the Madison Arts Alliance, Madison Music Movement (M3), Visit Madison, and the Board of Tourism, collaborate to support artists and activate spaces. 

The city has partnered with these groups to provide funding, marketing support, and help to facilitate festivals, allowing M3 to act as a provider of resources.

Beyond this, Red Bicycle Hall is part of a broader ecosystem taking shape across Madison. Indiana Music Alliance guest editor this month, Joel Storm, believes this support is essential. He serves on the Madison City Council and Plan Commission, and is the founder of the Indiana Music Hall of Fame and Ohio Valley Sound. 

“Venues like Red Bicycle Hall have become premier spaces for one-offs,” says Storm. “Places like Mad Paddle are doing good work as hybrid bars, restaurants, and performance spaces.” 

Too often in small-towns like Madison, momentum gets lost. When people are stretched thin or assume someone else will carry it, things stall before they ever really get off the ground.

“I don’t see a lack of desire. Life gets in the way,” Storm says. “What’s missing is organization around a mission that aligns with musicians’ expertise and interests.”

That alignment is slowly forming. Not just in Madison, but across the state. 

“We’re making it real here, slowly but surely, and quicker every time,” Storm says. “A few of us are building something organic and grassroots, and it’s starting to take shape.”

What’s happening in Madison is about building connections between cities, between artists, and between businesses. Red Bicycle Hall stands as a stop along the way: a place where touring artists can plug in between major markets, and where local musicians can share a stage without leaving home.

In a town nestled along the Ohio River, the music scene is moving steadily, it’s community-driven, and becoming impossible to ignore.

Words by Lydia Norton; Photos provided by the Buskirk-Chumley Theater

Originally opened as the Indiana Theatre in 1922, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater (BCT) stands as a landmark on Kirkwood Avenue, entertaining locals, college students, and visitors alike with about 200 shows a year. From screening early movies and hosting regular Hoagy Carmichael performances in the 1920s to presenting national touring acts and community events, it has remained a cultural anchor. Today, Executive Director Steve Versaw is working to ensure that its legacy not only continues, but grows.

We caught up with Versaw about the theater’s role in the community, the challenges facing independent venues, and what’s next for the BCT.

Lydia Norton: How does your venue impact the local Bloomington community? 

Steve Versaw: Everybody I talked to, even before moving here, mentioned the Buskirk-Chumley. It’s a huge staple in Bloomington. A lot of college kids come in and out of the community, and it’s a nice part of their experience. The people who live here have a lot of history with this theater. Obviously, it’s been around for quite a while: as a movie theater, a silent film house, a big theater with two screens, and now a nonprofit performing arts center. We have a real impact on folks who live here, and keeping that tradition alive is important to all of us here.

LN: What challenges do you face as an independent venue?

SV: One of them is that I don’t think people truly know the BCT’s story. There’s a misunderstanding that we’re a city venue, and the city runs it, or Constellation Stage and Screen runs it. The reality is that we’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit independent management company. We rely on donations and sponsors to make up our budget. We have a small, dedicated staff who works hard, and we want to take care of the entertainment business. 

The venue and entertainment business isn’t a traditional nine-to-five job. There are several problems to solve, and the show must go on. 

Donations make up about 6% of our annual budget, city support adds another 6%, and corporate sponsorships are close to 6%. More traditional nonprofits earn closer to 50% from donations. About 12-13% of our annual budget comes from outside support, and the rest is us working hard to make sure we can continue as a nonprofit community theater. 

The other side of that is we give away several rent-free days to local nonprofits. We want this to be a community center. We need to cover our financial needs throughout the year by working, but we also give back to our community. As a nonprofit, we need to tell our story better to gain more understanding from the public, so they can add five dollars to their ticket as a donation. Right now we’re surviving, but we’re not thriving. 

LN: How do you feel the Indiana Independent Venue Alliance (IIVA) impacts independent venues like yours?

SV: I came from a for-profit world. I was independent my whole life until I worked for Live Nation–a multi-billion dollar corporation, running a 25,000-seat venue, selling beers for $20. It was a money-making prospect. One of the reasons I wanted to get out of it was to do something like community theater because that’s where my roots are. I truly believe independent venues have so much more soul. There’s a place for them throughout the country and the world, and the IIVA is an awesome resource.

Each independent venue operates differently. For instance, the HI-FI has a bar with live music. On the other hand, we are not a bar. We have concessions that we close down. What we decide to promote and put in this theater is more community-based. We host local regional acts, films, dance, lectures, and a variety of performances because we’re a community theater as opposed to solely a music venue.

LN: Have you seen any trends in ticket sales over the last couple of years? 

Obviously, everything changed after 2020. For the smaller, independent venues that don’t have the reach of Ticketmaster or the money behind it, it’s been a slow build. When I started working at the BCT in 2023, we were just cranking out shows and trying to get people back into it. 

There seems to be this constant up-and-down in 2026. People are holding their money closer to their chest; they’re not buying tickets in advance, and they’re waiting until much closer to the show to see if they even really want to spend that money. It feels like we’re following the pattern we’re seeing with everybody financially, where everybody’s a little stretched, no matter where you are.

But the entertainment industry doesn’t stop. People still want to see things and be a part of something. One of the things I really like about this size theater is that it brings out a lot of humanity in people. 

LN: What are you excited about? Are there any initiatives you want to share?

SV: I am extremely excited about our partnerships in Bloomington. I’ve toured and done lots of things in the industry, but it’s really exciting to see this younger generation be introduced to music and performing on stage. I’m actually much more excited about servicing the community. We want to have something for everyone in Bloomington and the surrounding areas throughout the year, and that’s what I’m excited about.

LN: How can your local community support your success? 

SV: Go see something new. I try to take some chances and bring things to Bloomington that I know music lovers would want to see, whether they know who it is or not. Support independent venues by showing up. Buy tickets to events and donate to nonprofits. That is the best way to support us now as a nonprofit, and that’s the best way to support any independent venue.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton

Indy CD & Vinyl is built around the belief that music should be for everyone, no matter the genre, format, or level of familiarity. For more than two decades, the shop has operated with a simple philosophy: the niche is not being niche at all. Co-owner Andy Skinner has helped shape the store into a space with a deep, all-encompassing selection, while also extending its role beyond retail through in-store performances, community events, and partnerships with local organizations. Rooted in Indianapolis’s often-overlooked cultural history, Indy CD & Vinyl offers a place where physical media becomes a shared point of connection.

Avery Martin: How would you describe your shop’s philosophy when it comes to curating music?

Andy Skinner: Our philosophy of how we curate is that everybody’s welcome. Indy CD & Vinyl has been around for twenty-three years; the idea has always been to have the deepest selection of every genre, period. Our niche is not to be niche.

AM: What do you think sets your store apart in Indy’s vinyl landscape?

AS: We opened a part of our store called “808”, an extension of retail, adding a third space for people to come, sit, hang out, and foster community. We have the ability to have bands play in the shop, host the soft launch for the Indiana Music Alliance, and non-profits like Girls Rock!, the Indiana Music History Project, and Musical Family Tree events.

AM: What does community mean to you in the context of a record store?

AS: We’re selling something that people are deeply, deeply passionate about, and there are only a handful of reasons why you would want to come to a store and spend money on a physical product to listen to and consume the music. So the idea that we are in retail sales, that absurdity, isn’t lost on us, but we also know the market we are in and the people we serve. There has to be some connection with the people who choose to spend their hard-earned dollars on the things they are deeply passionate about. 

AM: Do you notice certain genres, moods, or types of customers that feel distinctly tied to your neighborhood?

AS: Indianapolis has an amazing cultural history that is woefully underreported. Our story is that we’ve embraced that cultural history. The people who are into soul 45s and the people who are into jazz LPs, they’re being serviced here again, alongside the folks who like mainstream pop music and are buying their first records. It’s a spot for all of them. 

AM: Are there any local musicians or bands you’ve supported early on?

AS: There have been innumerable amounts of local artists who have performed here as part of that initiative to expose local music. So, we’ve been there from the start. We’ve also run a few record labels over the years, under the umbrella of the record store. There’s also been a DJ dance night that we host at the White Rabbit Cabaret for the last nine years. It’s on the last Saturday of every month, and it’s called Spellbound, and it’s specifically for dark alternative, goth-adjacent; we call it the dark rave. Someday, some anthropologist or sociologist is going to say, Wow, what you guys had here in Indianapolis was amazing, but there’s just grainy social media clips that prove that it actually happened. So we started recording the bands, and then we started putting them out on limited edition vinyl. 

AM: What do you think keeps people coming back to physical media, even when we don’t need it? 

AS: We need it. When my favorite band decided that they weren’t going to stream their music on Spotify anymore, I had to make a conscious decision to go and figure out how to play said band.

AM: What do you think people get from vinyl that they can’t get from digital?

AS: Owning the physical media, especially on vinyl, as long as you take care of it, 100 years from now, you’re going to be able to play it, and nobody’s going to take it from you.

AM: What shifts are you seeing in what people are buying, discovering, or talking about?

AS: TikTok is important. It’s become the front door of the internet for a lot of people. So, the influence it’s having on what I call classic titles, I attribute the Fleetwood Mac Rumors phenomenon and, my personal favorite, the Jeff Buckley Grace phenomenon to TikTok. I’m for it, I am on board, please come in and buy Grace on LP. 

AM: What album best captures the spirit of your store? Why?

AS: I would say any of the first four Björk records, The Sugarcubes’ Life’s Too Good, and anything on Factory Records.

Words by Avery Martin; Photos by Lydia Norton

LUNA Music has built a reputation for thoughtful curation and genuine connection. Alongside College Ave, the shop serves as a gathering place for a tight-knit community of music lovers to explore new sounds. I interviewed employee Alex Johnson, and he shares how the shop listens to its customers, supports under-the-radar music, and keeps the experience of physical media alive. 

Avery Martin: How would you describe your shop’s philosophy when it comes to curating music?

Alex Johnson: We all love music a ton, so it’s all about shining a light on stuff that we think people would really like. Customer feedback is also a huge piece of that; we always encourage customers to let us know if there’s something that they’re looking for that we don’t carry, because we want to do a better job at filling in those gaps. 

AM: What do you think sets your store apart in Indy’s vinyl landscape?

AJ: We’ve been here for thirty years, we really put community first, and we love connecting with our customers. ​​We have a subscription service where people sign up, they fill out a survey based on their taste, we pick records, and then we send them every month. We really love being curators in that way.

AM: What does community mean to you in the context of a record store?

AJ: We really believe in the idea of a third place. Being that place where someone can go, if you want to come in and connect about music, or you need a place to just hang out and talk to somebody, we are that place. 

AM: What kind of music do you find yourselves gravitating toward when curating for the store?

AJ: We’ve done a really good job of curating under-the-radar selections. Stuff that’s a little off the beaten path, a little experimental, a little electronic. We try to give smaller labels a little shine. 

AM: Are there any local musicians or bands you’ve supported early on?

AJ: One of our favorite local bands is called Wishy, our part-time employee Kevin’s band. We really like it when local artists come in and bring their physical media to sell. We invite anyone in the neighborhood or the community to come in and bring their records, tapes, or CDs and sell them in our store on a consignment basis. 

AM: What do you think keeps people coming back to physical media, even when we don’t need it? 

AJ: First off, it’s tangible; you’re able to hold it and own it, especially in the environment of streaming today. People are removing their music from Spotify and Apple Music, so I think increasingly people want to own their music. 

AM: What do you think people get from vinyl that they can’t get from digital?

AJ: There’s a mastering element that is kind of important, especially for older music. If you have an analog medium, it’s really important to try to master it analog if you can. Most modern music isn’t mastered analog, but if you have an older record or a reissue of an older record, having an all-analog signal path is going to give you a really good fidelity when you play it. 

AM: What musical artist best captures the spirit of your store?

AJ: Prince probably captures the spirit of the shop more than any other artist, for sure.