By Mick Dillon / The Jambar
Embedded in the history of downtown Youngstown is an all-welcoming, musical rendezvous — record store Geo’s Music.
Founded in 1998, Geo’s originally started as an idea to bring creative minds together and give them a home. For founder Geo Case, this store literally served as a home for a number of years as he was sleeping on a mattress in the back of the shop.
Case said the store serves many purposes, and he is happy to be involved in the community.
“This is your home place for Geo C and Tha Storm, the band, to make music, practice, write and arrange … And then we can have a hub here that people can come to buy music, or to, if you’re an artist locally, we of course love to sell your music, or t-shirts or whatever,” Case said.
Case’s ensemble, Geo C and Tha Storm, serves as the creative brainchild of Geo’s Music. Case said the band has seen many different iterations of members over the years, but the vision remains the same — funky grooves people can dance to.
“I wanted to do music, because I had always done music, but coming from [the] Cleveland area to here, I didn’t know a lot of people,” Case said. “So I said, ‘Well, if I work my butt off and open a music store, I will meet music people, and I will meet musicians’ — and I did.”
Meeting a majority of his musical associates in-store, Case has developed a personal connection to not only the city of Youngstown but the people who live here.
“You’d meet people and you’d be like, ‘Oh man, my cousin’s a drummer. If you’re ever looking for a drummer, you know,’ and then you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, looking for a drummer, sure.’ And that’s how it starts…You, little by little, go through this, go through that, until you get closer to your vision,” Case said.
In the past 28 years, Case has seen many businesses come and go in the downtown area. He attributes the success of Geo’s Music to being involved in side gigs, building relationships with locals and maintaining consistency.
“We’re the roach…You can’t get rid of [us],” Case said. “It seems to be a pretty tight-knit group of people that come and hang out. And then they tell somebody, and then another one comes.”
As the downtown area grows, so does Geo’s Music. Case said he hopes to see the city continue to undergo a social resurgence because it’s beneficial to his business and the community.
“Hopefully downtown keeps getting nicer. I’d like to be able to put a couple tables out front and not just have people out there smoking and stuff … You don’t want that. You want it to be nice,” Case said.
The future of the record store involves continued recording sessions in the store’s backroom studio, along with upcoming performances from Geo C and Tha Storm across the Mahoning Valley.
Those interested in more information on upcoming events and concerts can check out his Instagram, @geosmusic.