On January 16, 2019, Sound Exchange, one of Houston’s original independent music stores, will move its storefront to 101 N. Milby, in the city’s East End, after 38 years in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood. According to owners Kevin Bakos and Kurt Brennan, the move represents a determination to remain close to Houston’s most adventurous cultural scene.
Sound Exchange is considered essential by Houston’s creative community and supporters, as a place to acquire rare and unusual recorded sound unavailable elsewhere, and also as a place to present and experience work, particularly given the disappearance of small venues catering to non-mainstream performance. Over the years, Sound Exchange has hosted a multitude of artists, notably The OCs, Man Or Astroman?, Insect Warfare, Grimple, Jana Hunter, The Grifters, and Dirty Three, among many others too numerous to mention. Bakos and Brennan are organizing a series of performances celebrating their new location; the lineup will be announced via social media in the coming weeks.
Says Bakos: “While we are sad to leave Montrose, our home for many years, we are looking forward to a new beginning in a beautiful neighborhood, and will continue to provide our customers with an eclectic choice of interesting music and performances.”
About Sound Exchange
Sound Exchange buys and sells new and used vinyl records, cds and other media, offers turntable repair, and hosts frequent in-store performances of independent artists across a wide spectrum, including metal and experimental noise. Sound Exchange (then known as Record Exchange) opened for business in Houston, in 1979, in Rice Village. In 1980, the store moved to its first Montrose location, at 1617 Westheimer. Bakos and Brennan purchased the business in 1999, and relocated it to 1846 Richmond. From the beginning, the business has provided a fiercely independent alternative to corporate music stores.
