CLOSED Slowtrain closed for business on December 24, 2011. This is not about another record store closing in a bad music industry. Slowtrain was a profitable store up until the very end and was always growing from year to year. The doors closed so owners, Chris and Anna, could focus on raising their new baby girl. WHAT WE DO Slowtrain is an independently owned and operated music store with a
serious slant towards independent labels and bands. We've been in
business since 2006, and we have a wide variety of
music, including indie-rock, electronica, jazz, blues, alt-country,
experimental and noise. Slowtrain has hosted
in-store performances by bands like Shearwater, Joseph Arthur, Laura Gibson, Make Believe and Norfolk & Western. In addition to
new and used CDs, we stock tons of new and used vinyl and DVDs, tickets, hand screened posters, and turntables. HISTORY To people for whom music is an important part of life, one of the most crucial points upon which any city is measured is its primary independent record store (or stores, in areas fortunate enough to have more than one obvious leader). A city’s record store is its musical heartbeat—its epicenter, its meeting place, its safe haven, a source for news about what’s coming out, who is coming through and what’s exciting, energizing and great in the world of all things music. In Salt Lake City, Slowtrain is unequivocally that place. Slowtrain is home. And founders Anna and Chris Brozek built it just for you, from the ground up. It wasn’t easy.
The concept behind Slowtrain was birthed by the Brozeks at the same time they’d decided to relocate from Phoenix, Arizona to Salt Lake City. Music was a driving force that bonded the couple when they initially met. in Anna Brozek’s words: “it was something special that we clung to because no one else in our lives was really into music the way we were.”
Although desperately excited about moving, the Brozeks knew they’d miss their favorite record store in Arizona, Stinkweeds, and felt that their future home could use a place just like it. They wanted to start a store based on amazing customer service, quality music, a friendly atmostphere—everything that their favorite store stood for. No snobbery, just awesomeness. As Chris explains, “It is a constant battle to get the average person to feel comfortable in a record store and we want to provide that experience.”
What happened next was both crazy and fortuitous: a series of coincidences led the Brozeks to discover that Kimber Lanning, the owner of Stinkweeds was, in fact, selling one of the store’s locations. Now, how to make it work?
Finding a physical space for Slowtrain remotely from Phoenix was, as anyone can imagine, a bit tricky—but after a disappointing ordeal with one naysaying potential landlord in the hip 9th and 9th area of town and with the help of friends, the internets and random luck, the Brozeks stumbled upon a vacant space that was to be transformed into Slowtrain. At the time, as Anna Brozek describes, the street “was antique shops, and that's about it…because of our time constraints, we took a risk on the area and signed the lease.” The Brozeks swiftly bought Stinkweeds’ stock, packed it up in the back of some moving vans, and literally hauled their dream store’s guts straight to its new home. Slowtrain officially opened on July 22nd, 2006.
In its first year of operation, Slowtrain hosted in-stores for bands like Two Gallants, Make Believe, Laura Gibson, and Shearwater, and watched the area surrounding its doors flourish. Coffee shops, boutiques and specialty stores, all run by young and local enterprising business owners like the Brozeks, surfaced. In Anna’s words, “Pretty soon, we had a hip little area going, and it turned out to be perfect. The risk paid off.” As for the in-stores? “It is hard to put into words how rad they felt. In-stores with these incredible musicians who we admired so so much were the icing on the cake for our long work weeks with little financial gain. It is one of the best perks of the job - we get to meet and host intimate and beautiful shows with some of our favorite musicians in the world, some of whom become good friends after the fact. That is priceless.”
Today, Slowtrain has thoroughly established itself as the heart of Salt Lake City’s independent music community. They’ve hosted countless bands and have watched those bands receive more and more national recognition, have heard more and more local bands talk about releasing their music on vinyl, and they strive to offer “a kind ear and creative solutions to bands looking for a change,” as Chris explains. The store only continues to grow thanks to its scene, which he calls “awesome and inspirational. We love seeing current staples of our local scene play packed shows in town and know that their first ever show was at our store, or that they only recorded a CD to sell it at Slowtrain - we're so proud of the musicians we have here in town and their ambition to make SLC something bigger than all of us. We're proud of all of this and like to think we play a small role in it all. We do our best to keep the scene's momentum going in any way that we can.”
As the years progress, Slowtrain will continue to cement its position as a catalyst and a rock for the art and music community in Salt Lake City. After all, everyone’s welcome. MISC. LOGO (designed by Dan Christofferson) Bio written by Joan Hiller Depper of Riot Act Media Photos by Russ Isabella (please credit when using an image) |
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