MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — A grand opening approaches for a new business owned and run by a father and his son. The two of them are offering a sort of hybrid, one they're pretty sure you haven't seen in middle Tennessee before.
Gage Doran is a skateboarder. His dad, Phillip Doran, has booked and promoted shows and been a venue manager, leading him to work with the likes of BB King, Chuck Berry, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood, George Jones, James Brown, and Cyndi Lauper.
"I worked with Devo also," Phillip smiled, gesturing to some items around the shop. "The action figures, they had signed some and given me a few including the dome they wore during the show."
A clock on the wall is signed by Flava Flav. Perfect.
"I'm like 'what you met them?! You did shows with them?!'" said Gage. "That's pretty cool."
When the father-and-son got their business here on Murfreesboro's West Main Street, they had an idea.
"This is the skate side," Gage said, speaking on one side of the building.
"My interest and past is more on music," said Phillip on the other side.
They'd do both their specialties at LRB Skate and Record Shop.
"Skating and music just go hand-in-hand," Phillip said.
"Who doesn't love listening to music while skating?" Gage added.
There's a lot that's very personal about the shop, and that includes the name LRB.
"When we moved here, I figured out about the skate park in Manchester," Gage said.
"He would come out of the bowl five, six, seven feet in the air and one of the locals would say, LRB," Phillip said. "LRB? What does that stand for? Little Rocket Boy."
A dummy of Ninja Turtle Michelangelo greets you at the entrance.
"I used to love the Ninja Turtles," smiled Gage.
Meanwhile, Phillip's selection of vinyls includes both the new stuff and a stock of the unique.
A vinyl of Buck Owens' (It's A) Monsters Holiday is on display.
"It's music, and I love doing it," Phillip said.
Ahead of a grand opening, father and son are getting along great at the new business.
I even tried to start a little debate.
"Which of you guys has the better taste in music?" I asked.
"I feel I do," Phillip said.
"Quite honest. I'd say my dad," Gage added.
Turns out, they agree on that too.
Sharing what they love in their own business, that's felt pretty incredible.
"It's great working with him," Phillip said. "It's great to see him be able to do what he loves to do."
Cowabunga, dudes.
LRB's Grand Opening is running both Saturday and Sunday with live music, food, and giveaways. They're located at 517 W Main St, Murfreesboro, TN.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
