The parent trap Mom and pop record stores struggle to stay afloat BY BOB GULLA

After more than nine years of selling CDs in South County, Narragansett Disc, one of the area’s best record stores, is closing its doors this spring. That makes the second shop in less than a year in this area to close, leaving only two in a county that is Ground Zero for blues and reggae, among other styles. But the fact is business is stiflingly bad in record retail. Have you shopped for a CD lately? A record store used to be beehive central for kids and hipster adults alike. But today the aisles are strangely unpopulated, and visiting a store has become an odd experience where you and the clerk share an awkward silence.

"Changing technology and buying habits have contributed to difficult times for many retail stores like ours," says Narragansett Disc owner Dan Shramek, "especially over the last couple of years." A variety of obvious factors has contributed to the demise of the business. Legal and illegal downloading are the primary causes. Changing buying habits is another. People are more comfortable shopping for music on the computer. Of course, prices are still high, despite Universal’s move awhile back to cut them. In fact, in order to pass on the cuts to consumers, they’re squeezing record stores, not their own bottom line. Commercial radio is the silent killer. Narrow corporate playlists decrease the music getting over the airwaves, a chief means of exposure, and therefore don’t take full advantage of a powerful medium. When radio doesn’t play it, chances are most people won’t hear it, and they’re playing fewer and fewer bands. Let’s not even talk about MTV.

The print media is also letting consumers down. When music and arts magazines aren’t busy going out of business, they’re marginalizing their record review sections, pushing them toward the back of the book or eliminating them altogether. The Internet is picking up some slack, but most are non-commercial sites with fanzine-quality writing, an amateurish brand of journalism that puts buyers off rather than instilling confidence.

"A whole generation is growing up thinking that music is free," Shramek continues, "and that they can just download whatever they want and share copies with their friends. People don’t want to spend their money to obtain music — the perceived value has been diminished."

The trickle down effect of downloading is enough to send a chill down the spines of musicians everywhere. Not only are store owners forced to seek livelihoods elsewhere, but the artists making the music are not getting a red cent. Like Shramek says, it is indeed "tough to compete with free."

But there has to be a way for the music business to generate money beyond the likes of iTunes and Rhapsody. Is it possible for us to go home again? Or will record stores follow vinyl on the road to musical near-extinction?

Incidentally, Narragansett Disc is having a store closing sale over the next several weeks, and their entire inventory of CDs is available. For more information, call 782-2400.

PUBLIC WORKS. On Monday, March 8, Community MusicWorks of Providence hosts the Grammy-nominated Turtle Island String Quartet at the Columbus Theatre. The quartet will present its own arrangements of music by composers as diverse as Monk, Zappa, Gershwin, Beethoven, and Brubeck. There will be a free educational demonstration at 4 p.m. and a concert at 8. Tickets are $20, and may be reserved by calling 861-5650 or purchased at the door.

Community MusicWorks boasts the only permanent inner city string quartet residency in the country. According to their Website, the organization’s mission is to create a cohesive urban community through music education and performance that transforms the lives of children, families, and musicians. Now in its seventh year, CMW offers programs that build relationships between urban families and professional musicians in the South Side, West End, Elmwood, and Olneyville neighborhoods of Providence. Based on their conviction that musicians can play an important public service role, they have created opportunities for professional musicians to help build communities. Their programs are anchored by the permanent residency of the Providence String Quartet. The four members teach music to young people, perform in the community, mentor students, and organize community musical events for students and their families.

The Providence String Quartet is a young and talented group of classical musicians who have committed to living in the West End, teaching and mentoring 60 at-risk children as part of their duties as a professional quartet in residence. Visit www.communitymusicworks.org for more information.

HEALING HANDS. As Living Room owner Randy Hien continues to recover from his near-fatal auto accident of almost three weeks ago, plans are in place for a few much-deserved benefits. Few others in town have championed local music the way Randy has, and local bands have begun to rally on his behalf. Not only has he been a fair club owner, he’s also a great guy and a good friend to many of the bands that have made their way through his house of rock.

Plans are still in the works, but the first show is planned for Wednesday, March 17, with Imprint, Knuckledown, Sac Religions, Soma City Ward, Ill Natured, and more. Doors open at 8 p.m, and there’s a $5 cover for the all-ages show. On Friday, March 19, the second "benny" happens. Bands include State of Corruption, Shed, and Sasquatch and the Sick-a-billys. More info will follow in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned. All of the dough raised from these gigs will go straight to Randy’s healing.

WANDERING EYE. Tonight (Thursday, the 4th), the Providence Riots, Tubesteak, Pi Theta Pi, and Look West hit Cats in Pawtucket. Pi Theta Pi is a three-piece rock band with roots all over New England who have been together for two years. They just finished recording their debut album, Boston T Party. To hear it, click over to pithetapi.iuma.com. Also on Thursday, Lori Amey, Christopher Monti and Friends, and the Super Chief Trio play the Water Street Cafe, located at 36 Water Street in Fall River’s Battleship Cove. Members of the SC Trio have been playing in New England for the last dozen or so years, notably in the Neo-’90s Dance Band, Big Nazo, the Smoking Jackets, and the Last Minute Blues Band. Both Monti and Amey have records under their belts, too.

On Friday (the 5th), Black & White will be at Judy’s in Warwick. If you miss Don and the boys (who, incidentally, have issued a long overdue apology for the entire Super Bowl halftime fiasco), you can catch them on Saturday (the 6th) at the Brass Lounge in Johnston.

Also on Saturday, Bassis presents an evening of audiovisual stimulation at AS220 with DJs spinning the best in drum-n-bass, 2-step, hip-hop, breaks, and beats, alongside VJs projecting Immersivideo on three walls. Bassis happens the first Saturday of every month. This month see/hear DJ Giedrius with MCs Lo & Ex, Sayaka Starlite, DJ Inna Thort, VJ D’Compressor, and VJ Ogre B. The show’s at 9 p.m. and costs $5.

Stone Soup Coffeehouse has always tried to bring the best of New England music to its audience, including local artists who are friends of Stone Soup and are often seen as audience members and volunteers in our own folk music community. Making the music on Saturday will be New England Weather, sharing the bill with Phil Edmonds, Otis Read, and Cathy Clasper-Torch. The show is at 8 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Arts Center (210 Main Street in downtown Pawtucket). Tickets are $10.

Heavy jammers Purple Onion will be at the Century Lounge on Saturday with Grandizer Punch and Floodwaters, which will make it a good night for fans of good musicianship. Over at Jake’s on Saturday, you’ll find the Blackbeats, the Konks, and the Dirty Truckers puttin’ on a free show. You know the Itchies’ offshoot the Blackbeats; the Konks are a great broken blues band out of Boston, and the rootsy Dirty Truckers split time between Providence and Beantown.

E-mail me with your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.