EXPLORE RECORD SHOPS IN VIRGINIA

Virginia produced foundational American music across five distinct scenes. The Carter Family helped invent country in Maces Spring during the 1920s, and the Bristol Sessions of 1927 took place on the State Street line Bristol shares with Tennessee. Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Patsy Cline grew up in Winchester, and the Hampton Roads corridor produced Missy Elliott, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, and the Neptunes as one of the most consequential pop production runs of the last thirty years. Richmond added GWAR, Lamb of God, Avail, and D’Angelo’s neo-soul, and Charlottesville built Dave Matthews Band out of UVA in 1991. Plan 9 Music has anchored Richmond’s Carytown for over 40 years as a CIMS flagship, Skinnies Records has run Norfolk’s Ghent since 1987, Birdland Music has held Virginia Beach since 1978, and Vinyl Conflict carries Richmond’s hardcore lineage. Plan 9’s Charlottesville Seminole Square location anchors the UVA crowd, Barky’s Spiritual Stores is one of VA’s oldest, and Ear Food in Winchester runs as a 32-year father-son operation. Take 95 from DC down through Richmond to the North Carolina line, swing 64 east to Virginia Beach, and see what the Old Dominion has been keeping in the bins.

Find Record Shops in Virginia | Record Store Directory
Browse VA Record Stores VA Record Store Map VA Record Shop FAQ

Alphabetized by town- Find a store near you, or plan a road trip to see them all.

Loading…

VA Record Store Map

Every shop on one map. Click a pin for details.

Know of a New Record Store in Virginia or one we missed? We want to Know! Contact Us, and we'll add it to the list!

Contact The RSD
The RSD Story
Explore More From the RSD

BEYOND VIRGINIA: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE OLD DOMINION

As the tone arm resets in the Old Dominion, every shop you flipped through today is just one verse in a much bigger Mid-Atlantic story. The Blue Ridge runs west, the Tidewater coast runs east, and Virginia’s neighbors connect the DC corridor, the Carolinas, and the Appalachian valley into a single weekend reach.

Washington DC Record Stores: Cross north into Washington DC, where Smash Records anchors Adams Morgan with 40 years of punk and hardcore, Joint Custody on U Street is voted DC’s best three years running, Som Records keeps 14th Street’s jazz, Brazilian, go-go, and hardcore dig going, and HR Records in Petworth runs as one of the country’s few dozen Black-owned record shops.

Maryland Record Stores: Head north into Maryland, where Baltimore’s Sound Garden, Normal’s, and the Hampden cluster anchor a deep Mid-Atlantic scene, Silver Spring’s Joe’s Record Paradise has been a DMV institution since 1974, and Hub City Vinyl runs Hagerstown’s largest store with a live-music room attached.

West Virginia Record Stores: Roll west into West Virginia, where Morgantown’s college shops stock indie and folk, Charleston’s downtown stores carry country, bluegrass, and Appalachian gospel, and the New River Gorge towns keep old-time and front-porch music close to the surface.

Kentucky Record Stores: Travel west to Kentucky, where Louisville’s Guestroom Records runs two shops including the new renovated-firehouse Highlands location, the Great Escape’s Bardstown Road flagship anchors the long-form dig, and Lexington’s Cut Corner Records reopened in 2025 to take the old CD Central space.

Tennessee Record Stores: Drop southwest into Tennessee, where Memphis still spins Sun, Stax, and Three 6 Mafia in roughly equal measure, Nashville’s East Side stocks outlaw country alongside Third Man pressings, and Bristol still claims the 1927 Bristol Sessions as the Big Bang of Country Music.

North Carolina Record Stores: Swing south into North Carolina, where Asheville’s Harvest and Static Age cover mountain folk through weirdo punk, the Triangle’s All Day Records and Sorry State hold the college-rock and rare-soul flame in Carrboro and Raleigh, and the Outer Banks stores catch Virginia families on the weekend beach drive.

Texas Record Stores: Fly southwest to Texas, where Austin’s Waterloo Records and Antone’s heritage carry the city’s roots and indie pull, Houston’s Cactus Music runs the city’s deep dig, and the Hampton Roads hip-hop connection keeps Virginia producers and Texas studios in regular rotation.

At Record Store Directory, every state line is an invitation to keep exploring. Share your finds, connect with fellow collectors, and chase down that next unforgettable album, because the perfect record is always closer than you think.

Happy hunting, and we’ll see you in the next stack!

Articles From The RSD

Cassette Players and Decks: What to Buy and What Breaks

Cassette Players and Decks: What to Buy and What Breaks

How to buy a cassette player or deck, why belts are the thing that fails...
Read More
Choosing Speakers for a Turntable

Choosing Speakers for a Turntable

How to choose speakers for a record player, whether you need an amplifier...
Read More
The Best Turntables Under 500 and Under 300, by Bracket

The Best Turntables Under 500 and Under 300, by Bracket

What to buy at each price bracket, what changes as you move up, and the...
Read More
MORE FROM THE Record Store Directory

Virginia RSD FAQ

How many record stores are in Virginia?
Virginia has 84 active record stores spread across 48 distinct towns. Richmond alone holds nine shops, Virginia Beach six, Norfolk and Charlottesville each carry five more, and Newport News adds four. The northern shops in Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Woodbridge sit in the Washington DC metro reach, the I-95 corridor pulls south naturally into North Carolina, and the southwestern Bristol shops sit literally on the line with Tennessee.
Tell me about Plan 9 Music.
Plan 9 Music is Virginia’s iconic indie record-store chain, with two locations: the original Richmond Carytown flagship (operating since 1981, over 40 years and counting) and the Plan 9 Music Charlottesville location at Hillsdale Drive in the Seminole Square Shopping Center (relocated from 188 Zan Road). Plan 9 is a CIMS member (Coalition of Independent Music Stores, the trade organization that founded Record Store Day), placing it alongside the most-established indie chains in the country. Its 40-plus-year continuous operation makes it one of the longest-running record-store flagships in the Mid-Atlantic.
What are the best record stores in Richmond?
Richmond’s nine shops form Virginia’s densest cluster. Plan 9 Music in Carytown anchors the city since 1981. Vinyl Conflict on East Grace Street is the city’s iconic hardcore shop, which relocated from Oregon Hill in 2022. Barky’s Spiritual Stores is one of Virginia’s oldest record stores and has been featured on NPR’s World Cafe. Wax Moon Vinyl & Video and Records & Relics RVA handle the contemporary indie trade, and Crossroads Records covers the Stony Point side of town.
What are the best record stores in Hampton Roads?
Hampton Roads carries 15 record stores across Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Newport News. Skinnies Records in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood has been operating since 1987 (38-plus years) and has hosted in-store visits from Sonic Youth, Cracker, Morrissey, and the Foo Fighters. Birdland Music in Virginia Beach moved from Norfolk in 1978 and is now in its 55th-plus year. Not For The Weak Records and Freshtopia round out Norfolk, and Virginia Beach adds Half Moon, Vinyl Daze Records, and AFK Books & Records. Vinny’s Vinyl covers Newport News.
What about Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley?
Charlottesville’s five shops include the Plan 9 Music Charlottesville CIMS-member location, Melody Supreme on West Main Street, Hello Goodbye Records tucked behind Tavern & Grocery, Sidetracks Music, and Low – Vintage Clothing, Records & Antiques. North in the Shenandoah Valley, Ear Food the Record Store in Winchester is a 32-plus-year father-son operation, and Back to the Media handles the rest of Winchester.
What are the best record stores in Northern Virginia?
Northern Virginia’s DC-suburb shops anchor the corridor from Manassas down to Woodbridge and west to Winchester. Mobius Records in Fairfax handles the central NoVA crowd. CD Cellar in Falls Church covers the inside-the-Beltway corridor, and Vienna Music Exchange serves Vienna. Black Metal Mercantile in Manassas specializes in the heavy end of the underground. Down in Fredericksburg, Bumrush Vinyl Shop opened in March 2025 alongside the longstanding Old Man Vinyl Records, and Records & Rarities in Springfield rounds out the inner-suburb circuit.
What about Bristol and the country-music birthplace?
Bristol, Virginia is half of Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee – the documented birthplace of country music. The 1927 Bristol Sessions recorded by Ralph Peer captured the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers as the foundational figures of the genre. The Bristol record-shop scene reflects that heritage: Ceremonial Sound anchors the downtown indie trade, and Cheap Thrills Records in Bristol VA is a sister shop to the Princeton and Beckley West Virginia locations of the same name.
Does Virginia participate in Record Store Day?
Yes, and Virginia’s longest-running shops anchor major Record Store Day turnout every April. Plan 9 Music in Richmond and Charlottesville is the natural CIMS-member RSD destination (CIMS founded RSD). Skinnies Records in Norfolk (since 1987), Birdland Music in Virginia Beach (since 1978), Vinyl Conflict in Richmond, and Ear Food the Record Store in Winchester all anchor the in-state RSD weekend. Check the official Record Store Day store locator each spring for the current Virginia participant list.