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Josh LaRue said he grew up listening to music and loves helping people make new favorites. (Photos by Darcy Sprague / Community Impact Newspaper)
Breakaway Records co-owner Josh LaRue lived as a student at the University of Texas in the North Loop neighborhood in the late 80s and early 90s. Despite the exponential growth that has changed the city over the decades since then, the neighborhood he now runs Breakaway Records in has stayed pretty much the same for him.
“Change is inevitable, but this little bag hasn’t changed nearly as much as some of Austin,” said LaRue.
The record store, adorned with a ’60s-style sign and colored panes that create a stained-glass look, shares a parking lot with a vintage clothing store and Epoch Coffee – an easily recognizable mall with the cafe’s big mascot at the Corner.
The company’s location in the Vintage Artists Corridor is part of its long-term success and an even more important component of the store’s survival during the pandemic, LaRue said.
“I’ve been a lifelong music fan and I’ve been collecting records since I was a kid,” said LaRue.
As he got older and technology changed, his love for the medium remained unwavering. LaRue said he left Austin for a while, but when the family brought him back to town, he and business partner Gabe Vaughn decided to start a local record store.
“I come from the days when tapes were pretty new,” said LaRue.
Breakaway Records, which has existed for 11 years, specializes in indie vinyls that span the decades. The store’s primary business is buying and selling records collected by Austinites, although the store has newer selections as well.
“One of the cool things about running a record store here is that not only are there music fans, but also people who have bought and collected records,” said LaRue.
When the store opened, LaRue said not many labels were interested in producing vinyls. New technologies like iTunes offered a cheaper and easier way to distribute music. But Austin, with its population of music lovers and artists, had records to sell and trade. Then the records took off. Big labels started putting everything on one record – from Drake to classic re-releases – that could be sold.
Due to the pandemic, the shop is closed from March to November 2020, then reopened for the holiday season. LaRue and Vaughn tried to create an online store, but it was tight. LaRue said long-time customers have come to the rescue, bought large gift certificates, or ordered new records on a regular basis. LaRue said it was important to the neighborhood that the store survive.
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