Strumming around the music shop

SANDUSKY — A new shop combines retail music sales with a live performance venue. Strum Around, located within the Sandusky Plaza on Cleveland Road (U.S. 6), opened in December. The vintage music store, run by Scott Adkins, offers LP albums, 45 rpm singles, DVDs, and more. But what sets this store apart from others is that it's also a live music venue. Adkins said he books acts from near and far. The store also has jam sessions two nights a week. A recent show featured the band Miniluv from Denver, Colorado. The lineup also featured Redfan, Holy Coast and Black Moon Cult, all from northwest Ohio. The venue charges a $10 cover or $5 if a canned good is donated. Four times a year, Adkins takes the food to Care and Share. Adkins said that organization helped him when he moved back to the area, and this is his way of giving back. A big fan of metal punk bands like the Misfits and the Cramps, Adkins said his love of music began when he was 12. Friends of his family formed one of the first death metal bands, Necrophagia. In adulthood, he traveled the nation as a stagehand working for acts such as Dave Matthews Band and the Deftones. Adkins also helped form the band Strum, which was the inspiration for the shop's name. After returning to Sandusky from Vermilion, Adkins said he was looking for a place to store his music-related items. He said his friends provided him with the support and encouragement to open a store. All of Strum Around's shows are live-streamed except jam nights. It also has an in-house photographer to provide bands with promotional photos. Adkins said he and Metal Monday emcee Nathan Coffey buy merchandise from many of the performers. Adkins said he had more independent band shirts than he could count. The store has 2,000 to 3,000 LPs for sale at any given time. Most are used, but the shop has recently started offering new records as well. Albums for sale include music from prog rock, hard rock and death metal to country, big band and religious. Adkins emphasized that the venue was for people of all ages. He joked that, during a recent jam session, the store became a heavy metal daycare with kids outnumbering adults 2 to 1. One band that frequently plays at the venue, The Mentally Distrakted, features a 13-year-old drummer. "They totally rip," Coffey said.