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Anyone remember vinyl? Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Christine McGeagh spins a record at Earwax, the record store and art gallery she and Mauricio Ancalmo will open Friday in Ashland�s Railroad District. New record store in Ashland specializes in the stuff By Bill Varble ASHLAND � Ear Wax is not your father�s record store. The giant, purple, interactive octopus hanging above the entrance pretty much tips you off to that. What the smart, cozy space in Ashland�s Railroad District is is a record store that specializes in vinyl albums while doubling as an exhibit space for artists. Ear Wax, 764 A St., debuts at 11 a.m. Friday, just in time for the December edition of Ashland�s First Friday art event. Tucked in behind 762 A St., it�s a bit tricky to find. Do what you love and the money will follow, the old saying goes. Mauricio Ancalmo, 28, and Christine McGeagh, 27, always loved music and art. She worked as a disc jockey at a pirate radio station in Albuquerque, N.M., (she had the funk show, playing the likes of George Clinton) and reviews records for an online fanzine. He DJed at college in Pennsylvania and plays guitar, bass and piano. Both are artists. He�s finishing an art degree at Southern Oregon University. The couple moved to Ashland about two years ago. "We didn�t want to be just another art gallery," she says. Not to worry. First there�s that octopus, which they call the Funktopus. It�s actually a gigantic hat with images of actor John Travolta, circa "Saturday Night Fever," dancing inside the crown. And it lights up. Then there are the fire engine red walls and floors, and the big white spots in all that red. It looks like nothing so much as the theatrical set in "Stop Kiss," last season�s hit play in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival�s Black Swan Theatre. And of course there�s all that vinyl, racks of LPs marching across the red walls and wrapping around the end of the shop near three turntables on a sturdy counter. Yes, Virginia, there is still such a thing as a turntable. It�s as real as love and generosity and CD players. Three turntables are set up here, two for the shop, one for the customer to spin wax on. "You�ll be able to cue up a record and put that needle down," Ancalmo says. The couple plans to buy and sell used albums as well as new ones. They�ll probably add new and used CDs, but they won�t be the ones you can buy at Wal-Mart � think underground hiphop, reggae, electronica, funk re-issues. At the heart of the wax part of Ear Wax is the couple�s belief that vinyl just sounds better. "Definitely," she says. "I love putting the needle exactly where I want to listen, flipping sides, stuff like that. We�re retro, I guess." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.