What Real Music Means to Travis Harvey

Today’s music consists of streaming from apps and downloading. Years ago,

it consisted of vinyl records and CDs. To summarize it all, music has progressed over

the years.

Travis Harvey, who currently owns The Village Green Record Store for 10

years, makes sure that whoever comes into the shop will appreciate real music.

Travis Harvey, owner of The Village Green Record Store, playing music from his laptop to the speakers inside the store.

“I have been successful with continuing running this business,” he said. “It

was pretty much based on the idealistic mentally of wanting to expose people to

new things, challenge them, open their minds and make them excited about

different styles of music.”

Located 10 seconds off of Ball State campus, Harvey did not intend on

creating the record store because of money. His idea was to have people wanting to

come in and show them something they never heard of before.

Harvey knows that people who are looking for a record shop will come in

effortlessly. He is really pushing to pull in customers who are new to the scene.

“I am trying to reach out to people who have never been in a record store or

think outside of their music comfort zone,” he said.

During his time operating the record store, Harvey has been involved in a few

projects on and off Ball State campus to ensure that people have a basic

understanding of vinyls and CDs.

He spoke to students in different classes to give insight on music

appreciation. He recalled students would walk into the shop and commend him on

his presentation in the class, which gave him the “humble” feeling.

Harvey has spent so much time creating his shop that he has helped others

do the same all around Indiana.

The Village Green Record Store, on the left, is located within seconds off of Ball State campus. Inside the store, on the right, there are hundreds of vinyls that customers can go through and possibly purchase.

“Since I’ve had this store, for ten years, I’ve helped five other people open

their own stores,” he said. “They’re doing great as they are still in business.”

Record stores in Kokomo, Greenwood, Irvington, Indianapolis, Indiana and

Cincinnati, Ohio have all been brought up under the advice of Harvey.

“These were people that noticed that I have been doing this for a while, and

they came to me and asked if I had any connections that they can learn from,” he

said. “Then I would help every step of the way.”

Harvey thinks that there should be a record store in every town because of

the culture.

“It’s an important part of their community. It contains real soul and culture,”

he said.

Harvey plans on continuing running the Village Green Record Store and

influencing young adults to become accustomed to, what he calls, real music.