Before we opened in 2010 my friend and local artist, Nash Hogan, offered to help me with a logo. He sent some ideas a couple of weeks later and the one that stood out and resonated with me the most was the drawing he did of a gramophone. Listening to and performing music was/is the most important thing in my life, with the exception of my family of course, and for some reason that image of the gramophone, one of the first devices to transmit music from, was THE logo for us. It just felt good.
Around that time I had recently bought a basic record player, much like this Victrola, after my Dad had gifted me some records we used to listen to when I was a kid. I was newly hooked on vinyl, the sound, the feel, and mostly the nostalgia of discovering new music that my Dad would turn me on to as a budding young musician.
Luckily we live in Athens GA and have 2 fantastic local record stores, Wuxtry and Low Yo Yo, where you can find older out of print Vinyl as well as new releases and local favs. After a shift at Jittery Joe's I would take my tip money and head down to one of these local gems and rifle through the records looking for anything that peaked my interest. It was a great way to unwind and just get lost in the vast library of sounds that awaited to be heard.
When we opened Hendershot's my first idea for branding our coffee, and one I am still proud of and maintain, was to create blends named after record speeds, 33 1/3 Light Roast, 45 Medium Roast, and 78 Dark Roast. We have expanded the line up to include Record Speed, our Espresso Blend, Lo-Fi, our Decaf, and Crossfade, our Half-Caf blend. I thought it would be a cool way to connect our mission of supporting live music with our brand of coffee.
I have since upgraded my turntable and speakers and buy records when I can. Jenn and I frequently hang out in the record room and spin vinyl while we eat, or just hang out together. Both of our girls have been raised to appreciate vinyl and know how to work a turntable, which in this culture of music streaming is a breath of fresh air. We even have a turntable at the shop and spin records every Tuesday during our "No Phone Party". Many of my friends are avid vinyl collectors and love bringing records to the shop to spin. It's a really cool way to transmit music and connect with people over a shared interest.
If you don't already, I highly recommend picking up even a basic record player and supporting our local record stores so they stick around.
Don't let the robots take over, dip your toe in the analog waters, it's warm and refreshing.
