Ear X-tacy
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- The correct title of this article is ear X-tacy. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
ear X-tacy is a Louisville, Kentucky "alternative record store", owned and operated by John Timmons.
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[edit] History
ear X-tacy first opened in 1985 in a 500 ft² (46 m²) building stocked with John Timmons' personal records "and a cash advance on his mastercard"1. The store name came from the band, XTC, of which owner John Timmons is a fan. As the store grew, it changed location three times over a period of sixteen years. The current building has two stories and 10,000 ft² (930 m²) of floor space. ear X-tacy carries almost every music genre imaginable in CD, cassette, and vinyl formats and also carries a large stock of VHS tapes and DVDs, including many hard-to-find items. In 1995, the ear X-tacy label was formed.
The first floor of the current building is dedicated to all music and video formats and now the vinyls aswell. It also includes the stage for live performances and a large selection of small and large stickers mocking current U.S. events or promoting Louisville. The second floor used to consist of the vinyl section of ear X-tacy but now contains many t-shirts.
The store's signature logo stickers have spawned a local fad wherein people cut up and reassemble the distinctive letters to form other words or phrases, such as "racy aXe" or "area X".
The insert of the Gin Blossoms' New Miserable Experience album features a photo of one of the band members with an ear X-tacy sticker in his mouth.
[edit] In-store performances
ear X-tacy often has bands, many local, come and play during the day. One of the most memorable performances was on July 4, 2000, when the Foo Fighters played. The store was packed with 700 people inside and 200 people outside. The Foo Fighters also spent $1,000 shopping in the store. They have had other performances by Sam Bush, Shooter Jennings, The Black Keys, and Tenacious D, to name a few.
1ear X-tacy History and Owner Profile
