Story and photograph by Thomas Crone
Sheri Ford has opened her first business, along a stretch of Cherokee Street that’s admittedly rough around the edges. But she looks past the imperfections—a fast-talking shoplifter who made off with a Macabre tour T-shirt last winter, the building across the street whose wall suddenly collapsed—and sees room for nothing but growth ahead, for both her shop and her block. “We spent about a year looking for a space,” she says. “We almost signed a lease on Grand, in a space smaller than this, but we were looking for a place where bands could come and play and hang out and we could do events.”
Housed in a shotgun storefront near Jefferson, Ford’s store, Tension Head, is a boutique record shop, specializing in metal and punk rock, often bought directly from the artists. The stock reflects Ford’s own musical interests, along with that of an avid following she’s picked up over the years at local shows.
Most afternoons, Ford’s in the shop, selling a few records and playing the cool aunt to a variety of kids who sit on vintage couches and chairs, flipping through magazines (Tension Head’s store within a store, Southside Education, stocks 72 different ’zine titles) and talking about their bands. The communal vibe extends to her staff, a tight group of friends who’ve pitched in to make the operation work, whether by ordering albums and ‘zines or simply spelling Ford at the counter for a few minutes.
Ford’s happy that they’re around—and that patrons appreciate the smaller-is-better approach to music retailing the shop offers, an approach that works in many cities. “Out in L.A., I went to a place that only had 100 pieces of merchandise,” she says, “but I wanted every piece.”
Tension Head, 2619 Cherokee, 314-577-6997, www.tensionhead.net, www.myspace.com/tension_head. Hours: noon–7 p.m. Mon, Wed & Thu, noon–8 p.m. Fri & Sat. noon–5 p.m. Sun; closed Tue
