Ep525: RSD with Jen Keenan - Queen B Vinyl Cafe

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

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

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