\u201cRide this train to Roseburg, Oregon,\u201d says Johnny Cash <\/strong>in his gravelly intro to \u201cLumberjack,\u201d the third track of his 1960 concept album, Ride This Train. Over the blare of a rail whistle, Cash continues: \u201cNow there\u2019s a town for you \u2014 and you talk about rough.\u201d<\/p>\n Rough this southern Oregon town still can be, and unashamedly redneck with flotillas of pick-up trucks routinely lifted high enough for drivers to slam dunk a basketball merely by reaching out the window. Gun sellers outnumber bookstores at least 10 to 1 (and that\u2019s a used bookstore).<\/p>\n More from Spin:<\/p>\n So imagine my surprise finding a sake and record bar. Japanese rice wine and new vinyl albums here?<\/p>\n Yes! Long and slim, lined with framed music photography and album racks jam-packed with collectors\u2019 wet dreams, Reverie Record Shop is a corridor drawing the wanderer away from SE Jackson St. and, at the rear, sake (the fridge stocks a dozen varieties), coffee, craft beer on tap, easy chairs and an ever-spinning, lamp-lit, VPI Aries turntable.<\/p>\n Newcomers may wonder if this is a serious business or money-laundering exercise. It\u2019s legit and in the black, declare owners Michelle and Albert, refugees from LA.<\/p>\n Migraine-free since the switch to sake, says Michelle pictured here with Albert, at Reverie in Roseburg. (Photo by Sierra and Isaiah Miller)<\/p>\n \u201cAll you have out here are bars,\u201d says Albert. \u201cLike bars. And not everybody\u2019s into bars.\u201d Albert means the ubiquitous dive bars, Roseburg police-log perennials like the Idle Hour, the Scoreboard, and Rumors. \u201cAnd there was no dedicated record store here in Roseburg, so we decided to merge the two,\u201d with coffee thrown in, Italian style: strong and straight with no bullshit syrups.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea really came from the Japanese kissa bars,\u201d he says. \u201cAfter World War II, it was not easy to find hi-fi systems, so these kissa bars<\/a> started where people could go listen to jazz on good systems with good speakers. Things changed in the \u201870s when vinyl was more accessible, but these bars have a pretty big spot in Japanese culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Is the sake out of a respect for tradition? Not exactly. \u201cI love wine,\u201d Michelle says, \u201cbut it gives me migraines. Doesn\u2019t matter if I drink a glass or a bottle \u2014 major migraines. We started diving into sake to check it out: no migraines.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
So they threw together all the stuff they like \u2014 booze, coffee, and music (on vinyl, \u201cthe way God intended,\u201d says Albert) \u2014 and found that plenty enough folks wanted a kissa.<\/p>\n