Ashland is latest stop for longtime record store owner; previous locations include Sunset Boulevard and Austin

By Emma Coke, Ashland.news

Longtime record store owner Robbie Petterson only signed a two-year lease for his newest store, Shattered Music, in downtown Ashland. He says he’s not in it for the long haul or to make money — he’s in it to sell music and talk about music. 

Shattered Music, already a quarter of the way through its lease, is well-stocked with an eclectic variety of records (and CDs and cassettes) and seeing great business, according to Petterson. 

“I didn’t want to be here longer,” Petterson said. “I just wanted to have a great time here and enjoy the community, bring something good.”

Working side-by-side with Beau Dillard, the two aim to create a welcoming environment in their store at 64 N. Pioneer St., between Three Penny Mercantile on the corner of Main Street and Taqueria Picaro at mid-block.

“First impressions are huge,” Dillard said. “So you know, when somebody walks in the door, whether they’re a longtime customer or first time, we’re going to treat them the same. We want people to feel good. And we want people to be comfortable in here.”

“There’s no wrong answer with music,” Dillard added. “If you enjoy it, you enjoy it.”

In an effort to cater to a wide audience, Petterson looks high and low to stock his store, “answer(ing) calls nobody would ever answer.” 

“That’s what you got to do, man,” Petterson said. “You got to look under every rock to find the best stuff for the people.”

Even with their wide collection, they know not everyone will find what they’re looking for, so Dillard is working to make Shattered Music part of the greater record store community by recommending customers to other nearby stores. 

“We want to be part of a group of record stores, so when people come in, we immediately tell people, ‘Hey, have you been to Diane’s? Have you checked out Music Coop? Have you been to Time Machine in Grants Pass?” Dillard said. “Because the more record stores there are, I think it’s the better.” 

As an avid music collector himself, Dillard understands the hunt. 

“I get a kick out of people finding stuff they’re looking for, and they’re excited,” Dillard said, “because I know how it is, too. As a buyer myself, if I find a record or something that I’ve been looking for for years, you get an adrenaline rush. It’s exciting.”

Petterson and Dillard have been in the record-selling business for decades. This isn’t their first Shattered Music store together. 

Petterson has bought and sold music since 1972, first beginning by selling American records while living near an army base to school friends from the back of his car in Germany. 

“I thought, ‘Well, gosh, I should start making some money at this if I’m going to do this,’” Petterson said. “It wasn’t quite exactly correct to do but, but I did it anyway. And I would just bring all these records to these clubs and friends and they would play them. And it just started from there and then it never stopped.”

He would spend the next 50-plus years traversing the country, opening up stores to share his passion.

“I would open shops in areas that I wanted to live in, and I felt were culturally diverse and moving up,” Petterson said. “So I want to move to Los Angeles and put my shop on Sunset (Boulevard). It was still like the hair bands are coming into town. It was exciting.”

While Petterson was in L.A., he even found himself playing Dumb Football Player #2 in Beetlejuice. 

“It was a lot of fun and I never expected it to be as big of a success as it turned out to be,” Petteson said.  “I still get royalty checks … It’s like $130 every three months, I mean. It’s 40 years old, so it’s lunch money.”

He didn’t stick around, leaving when he felt money had overtaken the idea and the place lost its excitement. He decided to move to Austin, Texas, where he opened up a store. He spent three years there, meeting great people and going to great concerts. Once again, Petterson left when it “became too corporate.”

“I haven’t been financially successful, partly because I don’t do this for the money and I don’t try to get every penny out of everything,” Petterson said. “The other reason is I keep moving around and try to explore the regions that I like.”

Dillard joined Petterson 12 years ago. The two had crossed paths a few times while Dillard was working at Peoples Records in Arcata, California. Petterson would come through the area once a year, looking for records to buy and the two would sometimes talk. It wasn’t until the opening of Petterson’s Dunsmuir, California, store that he joined. 

“(It was) just kind of a happenstance that we reconnected,” Dillard said. 

Petterson would go on to own six stores before he found himself in Ashland upon recommendation from his friend, Dana Nelson, owner of Three Penny Mercantile. Nelson had called him about the building for sale near her store that would become Shattered Music. 

After so many years running stores, he was initially skeptical about opening up another one. The more he thought about it, though, the more appealing Ashland became. 

“I thought, ‘Gosh, it’s Ashland,’” Petterson said. “So I came and looked at it and it was perfect size … So this is when I could just have fun and enjoy the community and not have to work too hard.” 

Looking forward, Petterson doesn’t know what’s next. He may renew the lease to continue selling records, or he may not. But he know’s one thing’s for certain: Why he sells records. 

“It’s all about the people,” Petterson said. “It’s all about that.”

Email Ashland.news reporter intern Emma Coke at emmasuecoke@gmail.com.