Roots Records is one of those places I KNEW I had to hit on Vinyl Road Rage. Being a longtime fan of all things dub, stopping here was a no-brainer. But I wasn’t quite prepared for how awesome this shop would be.

Roots has a tough job, catering to an extremely specialized market in a place I personally wouldn’t have picked as having a following big enough to sustain a store devoted to such a small part of the larger music-buying public.

That just goes to show you what you get for making assumptions. Columbus Ohio seems very supportive of its music shops, Roots included. This shop seems to be thriving and doing well–and deservedly so.

How awesome is Roots? For a start, toss out any notions you might have about reggae being a “small” genre. There’s enough to stock an entire store and then some without that store feeling like it’s just…missing…something. The diversity of sounds and styles will keep you crate digging for ages.

And Roots is full of surprises. The people buying for this store don’t come off any music snob factor whatsoever–you’ll find plenty of related genres and groups influenced by reggae and dub, hence the presence of Massive Attack 12-inches and much more. I got the feeling a newcomer would walk out of Roots feeling like they’d just found the secret source.

Compare that with your typical “High Fidelity” indie rock snobbery and revel in the fresh air of Roots. No pretentions, no bullshit. Just people who seriously love this music. And tons of it, from the roots reggae and dub plates all the way to what I call Generation Next dub sounds of Ryan Moore and Twilight Circus Sound System, you can get your fix here easily.

Want to fill in the holes in your Blood and Fire catalog? Check. Need to turn some unsuspecting future fan on to I Roy or grab yourself some Super Ape action? Done. My own biases are on display here–there was plenty of new-to-me stuff there, too. I just need to go back with a large bankroll and a Santa Claus-sized sack.

Roots is efficiently laid out, fun to browse, and the source of my favorite WTF moment of the entire Vinyl Road Rage journey, the random visual shock of THIS little gem hanging on the wall for all to see:

Yes, Roots didn’t need to win me over at this point, but seeing a Black Sabbath disc on the wall of this awesomely stocked reggae record store surely cemented Roots in my mind as one of the coolest places on earth. Hands down, one of the best stops on Vinyl Road Rage. Columbus has plenty of amazing record stores, but Roots has a special place all its own on the scene. DO. NOT. MISS.

–-Joe Wallace