Groundhog, owner of three decades in the music store business – The Catalyst
March 28, 2024 Tim Atherton, owner of Earth Pig Music and Smoke Shop in Colorado Springs, has been in the music store business for 32 years and has owned the store since 1992. The store, located a mile from the Colorado College campus, offers an escape from the real world with a fresh look at records and CDs. Despite the shift from technology to streaming music, Athertons believes that the real-world experience is a valuable one, particularly for customers who enjoy listening to music in their hands. He has no formal business experience or education but follows a simple business model to keep the store afloat. The Luminate Year-End Music Report suggests that 43 percent of all albums sold in the U.S. in 2022 were vinyl, and Gen Z is 27 percent more likely to buy vinyl records.
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Earth Pig Music and Smoke Shop on Uintah Street, about a mile from the Colorado College campus, can offer a nice escape from the real world. The air is still as customers slowly browse the shelves of records and CDs. Tim Atherton, who owns the store, plays a funky reggaeton CD before talking about the store’s history and how he sees its role in Colorado Springs.
“I’m fine with the real thing,” says Atherton, an unshaven middle-aged man with intense eyes and an honest smile. He has owned the music and smoke shop since 1992.
A record and CD store may be a fading concept in today’s world of technology, if not a forgotten one, but now more than ever some people yearn for “the real thing.”
Atherton has owned Earth Pig Music and Smoke Shop for 32 years. He was born in Minnesota, but raised, and he explained where his military family would “hop around the planet.” The final end of his childhood took place in Hawaii, he said, and from there he moved to Colorado Springs, where he has been ever since.
Atherton’s father was called the Earth Pig. The origin of the nickname could be a “hippie thing” or in reference to the military part of it, Atherton said. His father dreamed of opening a music and pipe shop after he retired from the Army, and Atherton joined him after dropping out of college.
The store is on Uintah St. in a vintage shopping center surrounded by a pizzeria and a liquor store. The small store has two main sections: one side with mostly CDs, the other with all the records. Green, yellow, red and blue walls are reminiscent of an elementary school. Posters of old album covers and musicians cover the walls, giving customers a glimpse of what they might find sifting through the shelves.
Atherton perched behind the counter, protecting the glass tubes.
“I guess I’m the bartender, so to speak… without the alcohol… the music will help you… What did Bob Marley say, ‘One good thing about music, when it hits you, you don’t feel the pain’?” Atherton said.
Atherton’s easy-going personality and rapport with customers are the reasons people keep coming back. Talk of life, children and hot springs filled the shop on a February day. Such conversations help Atherton fill bins with music people want. From live concert recordings of Bob Marley to Taylor Swift, Earth Pig has options for everyone.
Based on the industry standard, the Luminate Year-End Music Report, 43 percent of all albums sold in the U.S. in 2022 were vinyl, and Gen Z is 27 percent more likely to buy vinyl records, according to a Cleveland report .com.
“It made me learn new things,” Atherton said of the younger generation of customers who want new music in the store.
He mentioned that he has no formal business experience or education, but follows a simple business model to keep Earth Pig afloat: “Be good to people. Do more than you spend.
These two rules seemed to work as many people filed in and out the door in about an hour. Atherton describes his clients as a celebration of humanity.
“They come in all shapes, sizes and colors,” he said. So maybe it’s not crazy to assume that Earth Pig has sparked interest from CC students who live right down the street.
For CC student Brayden Ellis ’26, who has been shopping at the Pig for the past six months or more, it’s the combination of the environment, good music coming from the speakers, a great selection of merchandise and good conversation that keeps him coming back.
“Having tangible music in your hands as a person who loves music is a special thing,” Ellis said.
Ellis is one of many who enjoy listening to records in addition to streaming music. As more artists get streamed, it could be a reason for more and more people to buy records.
“It’s more like reading a paper book than your kindle,” said Andres Carrizo, professor of music at CC.
Listening to a recording bridges the gap between streaming music on your phone and going to a live show, Carrizo said. Also, people love covers. “When you listen to a vinyl record … there’s essentially a piece of art that’s the covers.”
Earth Pig Music and Smoke Shop caters to all types of people who live in Colorado Springs. Whether CDs and LPs are a primary form of musical entertainment for some, bring nostalgia, or bring a collectible and experiential element to music, Earth Pig’s popularity suggests that people still value the “real,” as X likes to call it.