Jerry Keogh, owner of Heritage Posters and Music, says his store is focused on timeless tunes
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If you’re looking for Lady Gaga CDs, it would probably be best to ignore Heritage Posters and Music.
But if you’re looking for 4,000 square feet of CDs, vintage posters, vinyl LPs, signed lithographs, rarities and most every type of music memorabilia imaginable, Heritage might be the place for you. And, with the closing of Megatunes, it’s one of Calgary’s best remaining havens for music nerds.
“I think what makes our store successful is a combination of the records, the posters – and the CDs,” says owner-operator Jerry Keogh, noting that the store is particularly selective of its disc selection. “We’re really proud of our blues selection, our folk and roots section, our country and jazz and classical.”
Keogh says the business model for Heritage, located on 11th Avenue, was “in his head.” Rather than focus on the ever-fleeting trends in music, he says that it’s a store more focused on music that has stood the test of time. And, like the record stores of times past, he says his store is the product of eagle-eye curation and community.
“It’s like it was in the ’60s,” he says. “You can listen to anything you want and have a good experience when you’re looking around. We have it all here – it’s a museum in a lot of ways. People come in here and say, ‘Holy shit!’”
And Keogh’s track record shows that he isn’t kidding. He’s been involved in the Alberta music business since AM radio mattered, including stints with the Calgary Folk Music Festival, concert merchandise sales and as a local promoter.
He lights up when speaking about his concert-going experiences of the ’60s and ’70s, when he saw Led Zeppelin, The Who, Cream, Procol Harum and Frank Zappa, just to name a few.
But, as it turns out, it wasn’t the legendary concerts that sparked Keogh’s life pursuit. Rather, it began in Edmonton, where, in his youth, he tore concert posters from any lamppost in sight.
“I guess the dream was to have a poster shop, but it became a record shop,” he chuckles.
“It was all timing. We’re now in the 21st century, and records and record sales are the only growth market in retail music. I had no idea we’d see the demise of the CD. It’s only about 27 years old!”
Keogh isn’t shy when he speaks of inspiration; in fact, he readily commends Mike Pleau, Megatunes’ late founder, for heading one of the best and most respected indie outlets in Canada.
Deepy saddened by Pleau’s passing in 2008, he says both Megatunes’ Calgary and Edmonton locations began sliding in quality. It’s a sad state of affairs, which, says Keogh, should be an eye-opener for music fans in Alberta.
“There are so many factors: High rent on 17th and Whyte Ave., downloading… it’s a combination of a lot of stuff. Man, it’s just really sad,” he says.
“Mike really had the passion and everybody knew Mike,” he continues. “After Mike died, the passion went and nobody came to the table.”
But Keogh runs his business differently. Heritage’s goal, he says, is to create a warm environment that can enrapture local musos for an hour or three. On most any Saturday afternoon, you can hang out and listen to records, watch a live local band, browse the huge collection of vintage concert posters or browse the books and CDs.
But central to Heritage’s appeal is its staff, which is made up of genuine music fans with encyclopedic music knowledge — not unlike Keogh himself.
Keogh hopes his business model will allow the second expansion of Heritage Posters & Music in years to come.
“I’d like our shop to become the Amoeba Records (the famous California music shops) of Canada,” he says. “We’re at 4,000 square feet and it’s packed in here! We have such good access to stuff and if it exists I’m pretty comfortable in saying that we can get it.”
“We want to give music fans what they want – and be able to show them what they might want. I don’t really collect for myself much anymore, but I collect for the store and for other people.”
“I guess I have my dream job.”
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