Ep525: RSD with Jen Keenan - Queen B Vinyl Cafe

Jen Keenan reveals how she built a thriving vinyl destination in rural Arizona, Queen B Vinyl Cafe , combining record sales with coffee roasting, ramen, and live music in a 12,000-person town. Topics Include: Jen Keenan owns Queen B Vinyl in Cottonwood, Arizona, a unique multi-business destination spot Record Store Day philosophy focuses on obscure, abstract, and smaller indie bands over mainstream releases RSD features 9am opening, numbered line system, DJs, live bands, and free chair massage Record stores can choose RSD titles but quantities received remain unpredictable surprises Queen B Vinyl spans two buildings with courtyard, housing vinyl, cafe, barbershop, ramen house Coffee roasting happens in-house alongside direct-to-garment printing press and live music stage Cottonwood serves as crossroads for tourists heading to Jerome, Sedona, and Grand Canyon Maynard James Keenan's presence helped amplify area's wine industry from handful to 100 wineries Rural record stores require more advertising and unique inventory unavailable at big box stores Used vinyl comprises 30% of inventory, with curated selection over quantity focus Jen drives five hours to Tucson for quality collections like 80s metal acquisitions After school music programs inspired Jen's punk rock journey from trumpet to cello Band Glitter Wizard emerged from record store workplace, requiring careful schedule coordination Queen B stocks diverse punk releases, carefully avoiding exclusion based on political perspectives Vinyl manufacturing delays from nine-month backlog created significant challenges for store operations Small town stores thrive through exceptional customer service recognizing individual preferences and needs Pandemic surprisingly improved business by bringing new audiences to smaller town locations Falconry hobby involves training hawks with telemetry tracking within one-mile range Jen and Maynard maintain separate vinyl collections despite sharing everything else Tool vinyl represses remain frustratingly delayed, creating bootleg market opportunities Rural record stores serve as essential community spaces beyond commercial transactions High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide Apple: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-ios Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-spot Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/tvg-amazon Support the show at Patreon.com/VinylGuide