Matt Vaughan

Thx all for the kind words and support all these years. To @thatgirlkisha for being the mom to this pop. All props to @easystreetrecords staff! Thx to the @musicbizassoc fam for this award I dropped out of Seattle U in ‘87/88, a Gen X slacker. Anything that reeked of greed, authority, we wanted nothing to do with. There weren’t a lot of opportunities, u had to stake out your own claim. In Seattle, we were used to that, Lewis & Clark had never even made it here. Boeing started out of a boatyard building seaplanes on Lake Union, UPS started out as two teenagers on bicycles in Pioneer Sq, Starbucks sold tea, spices,…and coffee, Microsoft started out of a garage. But this was also where Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie would find refuge running from the FBI, holding their folky leftist Hootenannies and also where a 17yr old Ray Charles travelled to, blind on a bus, from Florida - Seattle. He heard that u could play all day and night here. He meets a young Quincy Jones. Together they would change music forever. The song “Louie Louie” is popularized here, garage rock begins w The Wailers, Sonics…A young Jimi Hendrix would hitchhike around town and catch these bands #SpanishCastleMagic. The most innovative guitar player ever Heart would fight misogyny and inspire young rocker girls and riot grrrls…and of course many vocalists to follow. Queensryche would go onto be one the most respected metal bands of their time and usher in the new wave of prog metal. 1987, Sir Mix A Lot would release DIY “Swass” go platinum and get signed by Rick Rubin, ushering in an era of beatmakers and MCs; Vitamin D, @jakeuno , @dv_one @supremelarock , Blue Scholars, Jonathan Moore, @shabazzpalaces , @macklemore @SubPop and I started at the same time. I guess u could say we also are “Going Out Of Business Since 1988”. What occurred in those late 80’s- is nothing short of a cultural revolution... and we keep doing that. To all the record shops, the educators, labels, distros, pressing plants, designers, journalists, photographers, engineers, venues, radio stations, and the musicians that make it all possible Yes, I’m wearing a suit. Thx for hat @markpickerel 📸 @picture.this_photography_

This one! I luv u for all u do for these children, for this home, dishing out love and support, your sacrifices. We adore u always! Big hugs and sweet kisses. To all the mamas, respect and love… all around the world. @thatgirlkisha ♥️

The JBL L100 Classic MKII is home. Easy Street Beach House, West Seattle — Puget Sound out the window, vinyl on the platter, and those unmistakable orange grilles doing what they’ve been doing since 1970. This room is a whole thing. Awaiting a visit in the beach house or stop by the Experience Center to hear the L100s for yourself… The choice is yours. But Extraordinary awaits. #audiophiles #hifi #jbl #vinyllover #seattle

We’ve luv’d us some Social D from the very early years of Easy Street…and even before and always. From the early shows @theevalkyrie promoted, to MLM being played out of boom boxes at local skate ramps, the classic doc #AnotherStateofMind , #PoshBoy years. For many of u early customers and employees, u might recall the signed Social D poster we prominently displayed on our back wall. It was for the 1990 Dave Jerden produced Epic Records self titled. They gave us the poster and signed it a week before the record was to be released. Their label invited us to El Puerco Lloron (RIP), a small lil taco spot along the Harbor Steps downtown. It was only scheduled to be a listening party of the new record. There were only about 10 ppl there. After we listened to the record, Mike Ness & Dennis Danell got up and played a few songs off the record, “Story of my Life”, “Ball & Chain”, “Let it be Me” , and then a few covers Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire” …and a couple Gene Vincent songs and a Wanda Jackson song. We then sat around eating tacos, talking cars, vintage clothing, and shows we wished we’d seen. I recall we all got talking about the ‘59 UK Gene Vincent / Eddie Cochran tour and how incredible that must’ve been. Anyhow, that’s when they signed the poster to us. Painfully, about 10 years later, the poster went missing. It was from that tragedy, we frame our faves since. I recall Mike wrote a paragraph on it, ended w “Gene Vincent Forever” The next day Dennis (RIP) came by the shop and I gave him a list of vintage clothing stores to go to. He scored at Fritzi Ritz and Private Screening. That record would go onto be one of our best sellers that year. All their records since always do well! Social D Forever! See u Saturday 7pm! Goodies, giveaways, drinks happy hour specials ☠️ 🍸

Not only one of the greatest Rolling Stones records, but one of the greatest RnR records of all time ! Yes, this particular Warhol-signed 1st pressing is for sale. As a retailer, it is our duty to sell. We do not display records just for display purposes. We are not a museum. We don’t horde for ourselves. We typically don’t sell our used records online. We prefer to sell at the store level. We like to educate, to tell the stories, to experience the history. We want our friends and customers to be able to see em…and purchase em if so inclined. If so, feel free to make offer. We have some rough ideas, but this is truly unique Released in 1971. This was the Stones 1st record on their own label, Rolling Stones Records. They now had full creative and financial control of their career. Hey, let’s get Andy Warhol to design our record cover ! Andy was no longer an underground artist, he was widely recognized as one of the great artists of the 20th century. By the start of the 70’s, he had become a mainstream celebrity, an icon of the NYC art scene. Andy had the idea of using a Polaroid of a jeans clad male crotch closeup, with a working zipper over the photograph. The concept was a tricky one. Would the zipper damage the vinyl itself? A perforated 3rd panel was created. This would dampen the zipper from damaging the record. Creatively, on this secret 3rd panel would be the briefs underlay photo (also by Warhol). Surprise! Still, we recommend zipper down. Andy brought in master die cutter and packaging expert Craig Braun to assist him. Andy had used him on his famous 1967 Velvet Underground & Nico banana cover. Did u know? The famous tongue & lips logo was introduced on the inner sleeve of Sticky Fingers. The logo was inspired by Mick Jagger’s interest in the image of Hindu goddess, Kali (energy over consciousness, destroyer of evil and ego). Mick would commission London art student Jon Paschke to design the logo. It is widely regarded as the most recognizable logos ever. Did u know? It’s a young Ry Cooder that plays bottleneck slide guitar on “Sister Morphine” Did u know? Andy Warhol was one of the 1st artists to use @sharpie ? #sexdrugsrocknroll

Big record collection comin to u all, via Preston, Wa! Big thx to John Chaney and Bruce Bigley for having us out. Here comes the 2nd van load, last of it. John worked for the City of Seattle Urban Planning thru the 70’s-90’s. He knows every street..and created many of our plot maps. George was the Professor of Literature at the University of Montana for 35 years. The two of them have been livin on 5 acres of remote peaceful scenic #MtSi country livin for close to 20 yrs. Prior to that…Capitol Hill and a houseboat on Salmon Bay. Great taste in music; disco, yacht, outlaw, opera, psyche…Debussy, Weill, Glass, Brecht. Many purchased from that classical-only record shop on Capitol Hill ( neither of us could remember, but I recall it started w a P. Anyone?) Bruce is the cousin of John Bigley (frontman of the legendary U-Men) and George Bigley, our ol sales rep, dearly missed. I asked em to pick out two of their favorite records, see photo. Thx u guys, appreciate u trusting in us. See u at the cafe! We were lucky enough to bump into @treehousepete along the way. Thx for private tour! What a magical place @nelsontreehouse We buy used records 7 days a week ! Housecalls too 206-938-EASY

Matt walked in with something special. A limited edition Brandi Carlile LP — recorded live at Easy Street Records. Not on streaming. Sold out everywhere on Record Store Day before most people knew it existed. 1/8000 We have 10 copies. That’s it. Once they are gone, they are gone. Stop in, grab yours, and let us play it for you on a system that’ll make you hear every detail of that room all over again. #Seattle #Bellevue #Hifi #MusicLovers #Vinyllovers BrandiCarlile

For all music lovers! A must see ! /festival/radioheart-the-drive-and-times-of-dj-kevin-cole

Paul Solger LIVE at Easy Street Records! Thursday, May 21st at 7pm “The post-punk pathways that Paul explored during the early ’80s Seattle music scene are the foundation of what came to be known as grunge” -Stone Gossard “I got to prove my formative years in music right along-side Paul Solger. His brilliance as a player and originality as a songwriter were simply second to none. Enjoy now, what we have all known for years up here in Seattle…Paul fckn Solger ! “ -Duff McKagan We are thrilled to have Seattle legend Paul Solger (@pd_solger ) play the Easy Street stage! He’ll be celebrating the release of his first SOLO album and you won’t want to miss this show! JOIN US May 21st @ 7pm FREE | ALL AGES If you purchase the record, you’ll be able to meet Paul and have him sign his new record! ✍️ To preorder, click the link in our bio 🔗

I’ll be giving this well worn out of print tee away tomorrow. Given to me by @orvillepeck after his infamous May 20 2019 instore @easystreetrecords ! Hope u size medium (don’t have me ask) and u don’t have a harry back. Def one of my most fave days at Easy! I’m giving out free bacon to those in line tomorrow @recordstoredayus

Story Time! 🍌 You might already know about our legendary in-store with Lou Reed (@loureedofficial ) back at our Queen Anne store in 2003. Lou had just released his record The Raven and was going on tour. Matt heard that Lou had done a signing at Tower Records and went record shopping weekly. He called Lou’s publicist to set up an in-store while he would be in Seattle during his tour. By the way, we had no idea what Lou would be doing for his in-store. In preparation we had a guitar and microphone set up for him on stage. When he arrived he said all he would need was a microphone and a podium. He read The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe in its entirety! It was AMAZING and so special. Lou signed records for 4 hours. We brought him double cappuccinos from @ladroroasting 3 or 4 times. Afterwards he still had stamina for some record shopping. The Queen Anna location is no more but we have so many amazing memories there! #loureed #thevelvetunderground #storytime #musicindustry #recordstore

At a young age Matt Vaughan already knew what he wanted to do. And throughout his life he has stayed the course, establishing and maintaining an incredible record store that Seattle can be proud to hold. @easystreetrecords will be participating in @recordstoredayus this Saturday, April 18, along with many other independent record stores around Seattle and throughout the country. Go support these shops and quality independent businesses everywhere! @easystreetguy @themikesquires @couch_riffs #recordstoreday #easystreetrecords #independentbusiness #couchriffspodcast #seattlemusic