Known as the birthplace of Grunge and Post-Punk Rock, it's a city of some vibrant record stores such as Pearl Jam & Brandi Carlisle's favorite - EASY STREET RECORDS, along with ZION'S GATE RECORDS, SONIC BOOM, LIGHT IN THE ATTIC, and we even managed a trip to the MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE, where they welcomed us and our cameras with welcoming arms.

We're fascinated when finding shoppes that have a unique focus or genre of music. The stores in this episode are examples of a singular vision devoted to that idea. These stores are always a labor of love often conceived and run by one person. Just a few that we visited are: SELECTOR RECORDS - EDM / DANCE, BLACK WATER - INDIE HEAVY METAL & PUNK DOMINO SOUND - WORLD MUSIC, and THIRD MAN RECORDS - ROCK SUPERSTAR JACK WHITE'S LABEL & RETAIL STORE.

It's impossible to imagine the birth of Hip Hop without the sonic reality of vinyl records. What started out as a Do-it-Yourself experiment by the club DJs in the 5 Burroughs of New York, is now a dominant reality worldwide. The Roadshow speaks to Hip Hop practitioners including Daryl McDaniels (aka: DMC) as well as other Hip Hop professionals.

We visit Rochester NY, the home of the impressive 13,000 square foot store, Record Archives. Celebrating his 50th year, owner and musician Richard Storms has one of the most impressive stores we've ever seen, also having a live music venue and bar called the Backroom Lounge. We also go to Bop Shop Records, renowned for the high quality of their used vinyl - the selection goes from Ska, Punk, as well as Blues, Soul, and Funk. And before we left, we couldn't miss going to The Hi-Fi Lounge, once known as THE CD EXCHANGE - which has had its doors open for over thirty years.

Our crew goes to the Windy City stopping by Dusty Grooves, Shuga's, Out Of The Past, and a store that really beckons to the past, Beverly's. Chicago's record stores have survived the mass merchandisers who used the top titles of the day as 'loss leaders'. They have a scrappy reputation: as one store owner put it, "We're all individuals, we're not joiners - we couldn't even put together a record shoppe baseball league in the city --- We're just too damn competitive." A distinctive city with iconic distinctive stores.

American music is heavily laced with the DNA of The Blues. That was the case one hundred years ago and that's the case now in the 21st Century. Clarksdale, Mississippi is ground zero.

That town on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi, is a wash in the legacy of Blues, Soul, & Rock 'n Roll. Let's take a look at some of the record stores that keep those traditions alive and well - Memphis Records on famous Beale Street, Shangri La Records, as well as Goner Records.