Cedar Park, Texas
Phat Tracks Books & Records
Cedar Park, TX
Record shopping in Texas
Texas runs more distinct music scenes than any state outside California: Austin's outlaw country and SXSW industry (Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Armadillo World Headquarters era); Houston's chopped-and-screwed hip-hop (DJ Screw + the Screwed Up Click + Geto Boys + Beyoncé + Destiny's Child); Lubbock's late-1950s rockabilly axis through Buddy Holly; Denton's UNT jazz and indie scene (Midlake); El Paso's At the Drive-In and Mars Volta lineage; and the state's Tejano tradition through Lydia Mendoza, Freddy Fender, and Selena's 1990s breakthrough out of Corpus Christi. Waterloo Records relocated in 2025 to a 50-percent-bigger Lamar Boulevard space under new owners Caren Kelleher and Trey Watson after 43 years in Austin. Half Price Books runs five Texas locations including the Dallas Northwest Highway flagship as headquarters of the Texas-born national chain. Cactus Music anchors Houston's deep dig, 2nd & Charles covers Conroe, Laredo, Lubbock, and Beaumont, and the four remaining FYE locations hold Cedar Park, Grapevine, San Antonio, and El Paso after the January 2026 Katy Mills closure. San Antonio's 27 indie shops top every Texas town for record-shop density. Ride 35 from Laredo through Austin to Dallas, swing 10 from El Paso to Houston, and see what the Lone Star State has been keeping in the bins.
Know of a New Record Store in Texas or one we missed? We want to Know! Contact Us, and we'll add it to the list!
BEYOND TEXAS: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE LONE STAR STATE
As the music fades out in the Lone Star State, every shop you flipped through today is just one set in a much wider Texas-and-beyond playbook. The Gulf Coast curves east from Brownsville to Galveston, the Llano Estacado climbs west toward the New Mexico line, and Texas's four bordering states put the Smokies, the Ozarks, the Mississippi Delta, and the New Mexico Sangre de Cristos within a single weekend's reach.
New Mexico Record Stores: Head west into New Mexico, where Santa Fe and Albuquerque shops carry Pueblo and Hispanic music traditions alongside indie and country pressings, and Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley shops anchor the southern New Mexico corridor.
Oklahoma Record Stores: Cross north into Oklahoma, where Norman's Guestroom Records anchors the OU college-town circuit, Oklahoma City and Tulsa indie shops cover the state's two metros, and the Red Dirt country tradition stays close through the radio and venue network.
Arkansas Record Stores: Roll east into Arkansas, where Fayetteville's Block Street Records anchors the Northwest Arkansas indie scene, Little Rock's downtown shops carry punk and soul, and the Ozark towns from Eureka Springs to Mountain View keep bluegrass and folk close to the surface.
Louisiana Record Stores: Drop east into Louisiana, where New Orleans's Louisiana Music Factory and Domino Sound Record Shack carry the city's funk, jazz, and bounce lineage, Baton Rouge's college shops cover Cajun and zydeco pressings, and the Bywater and Frenchmen Street stores keep the second line spinning year-round.
Tennessee Record Stores: Travel northeast to 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 the Smokies pull Texas families up for cool-weather weekends in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Mississippi Record Stores: Hop east to Mississippi, where Clarksdale and the Delta blues trail run from Highway 49 to Highway 61, Oxford and Jackson carry the college-town and capital scenes, and the Delta pull is strong for any Texas musician chasing the original American blues source.
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!
More Texas coverage from The Stack:
- Record Store Spotlight: All That Music and Video in
- The Best Record Stores in El Paso: Borderland Vinyl
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