Bloomington-based Secretly Group record labels, and others, recently headed on a 3000-mile tour to sell records and other merch in a reimagined record store. The Bloomingtonian checked out the store when it launched in a parking lot in downtown Bloomington, but received a press release today with more about the event.
Here is the text of the press release:
“Earlier this fall, the inaugural Paved Paradise tour brought the music, merch and expertise of Ghostly International, Numero Group and Secretly Group record labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian on a voyage through the eastern United States. By way of a 24-foot truck, the traveling expo spanned 3,000 miles, welcoming more than a dozen cities and 5,000 attendees into its tented vinyl wonderland.
From Secretly Group’s Bloomington headquarters to Third Man Records, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a series of breweries, music venues, flea markets and parking lots in between, Paved Paradise took the record store experience outdoors, while producing a multitude of local collaborations, exclusive products and musical memories. Merge, Moog, Make Noise and Sooper Records joined the program in Durham, Asheville and Chicago, Ghostly artist Heathered Pearls performed in Brooklyn, Jack White stopped by in Nashville and Karate’s Geoff Farina hung out with fans in Chicago. Equal parts pop-up shop, block party and roadside fruit stand, the offerings also extended to a signature ice cream in Richmond, a mini Brooklyn Flea Record Fair in Manhattan, a live Q&A with Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione and Numero Group’s Ken Shipley, and a listening booth from hi-res music streaming platform Qobuz at every stop.
Top-selling products encapsulated both beloved indie classics and esoteric gems alike, including Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher, Khruangbin’s Mordechai, Numero Group’s Eccentric Funk compilation, Pastor T.L. Barrett’s Like A Ship, C418’s Minecraft – Volume Alpha, and Duster’s Stratosphere LP, as well as the limited edition Kevin Morby-curated cassette Velvet Highway, and an Elyse Weinberg / Dinosaur Jr. “Houses” Split 7″, both created specially for Paved Paradise.
Paved Paradise will be returning to the road and reaching even more cities in the near future. In the meantime, visit the Paved Paradise site for a full photo recap of events in Milton, Detroit and Chicago, captured by photographers Pamela Aquilani, John Cahill and Katie Laskowska: https://pavedparadise.secretlygroup.com“
