Please join us on Saturday, February 11th at 5:00 PM (aka BEER:30**) when we host author Aug Stone to read from, discuss and sign his new book, The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass. He’ll be joined by his friend, Nashville-based music journalist Cillea Houghton, for the discussion portion of our event, and we can’t wait to hear from these two about joyful experiences they had in record shops during their formative years. Autographed copies of Stone’s new work is available to preorder in our webstore now for in-store pickup and mail order, plus copies will also be available for purchase at our event.
The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass is Aug Stone’s comedic ode to obsessive record collecting and what it's like to be in your first band. Comedian Dave Hill says it's "like being taken on a rock n roll road trip by Holden Caulfield with a head injury in the best of ways." In the book, two music obsessives embark on a hilarious quest to track down Buttery Cake Ass’ Live In Hungaria, an album as legendary as it is obscure. Their pursuit of one of the greatest bands ever unknown takes them down many a bizarre path teeming with grand ideas and grander egos in this ode to record shopping and what it’s like to be in your first band. Packed with puns, allusions, and references across a wide range of culture, both popular and not, Stone offers up a big slice of the fun and frustration of playing rock n roll. “When we were 15, my best friend and I used to make up fake bands to ask for at record stores,” Stone recalls, “and the day I heard him ask the clerk at Cutler’s in New Haven, CT if they had anything by Buttery Cake Ass was a moment of euphoric glee that I will never forget.
Writing The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass was an attempt to capture the sheer joy and inventiveness of comedy back then, circa 1992, before irony seemed to set in everywhere a few short years later and the goal switched to making people groan instead of eliciting genuine full-on ecstatic laughter. In the process, I got to re-examine my own obsessive record collecting through a new lens as well as revisit the ridiculous aspects of playing in my first few bands, bringing me to a greater appreciation and love for both.”
Autographed copies of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass are available to preorder in the record shop and on our site here now. We hope to see y’all here on February 11th!
IMPORTANT PARKING INFORMATION! Our parking lot is shared with other rad businesses and it is a finite space, so parking is limited. In addition to our lot, there is an inexpensive paid parking lot behind Elegy Coffee and Mickey's on Gallatin Road that is a short walk from the shop. Please use EXTREME CAUTION if parking on the nearby, narrow neighborhood streets. Too many cars make these roads impassable and result in angry neighbors, the police being called, and cars being towed. (This is no fun at all.) If possible, please consider carpooling, ride-sharing, walking, biking, scooting, roller skating, or taking the bus to attend Aug Stone’s book release celebration.
BEER:30 is back, baby! Drop by the record shop on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 PM to hang out, check out the recent arrivals, and drink a cold one with us, courtesy of Nashville’s own Tennessee Brew Works! Attendees must be 21+ to participate and must present a valid state or federal ID for proof of age.
While there is not cost for the beers provided, we do encourage you to tip—all tips collected go to support an amazing organization, Headcount. HeadCount is a non-partisan org that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. They reach young people and music fans where they already are - at concerts and online - to inform and empower. Did you know that Tennessee regularly has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation? We’d love to see that change and hope to encourage every eligible voter in our area to actively participate in the democratic process.
