Though it's been in the works for a little while, Ken Chrisien, also known as Shopkeeper Ken, has officially announced the opening of his new Bay View record shop.
Chrisien, a long-time Bay View resident, will open the shop – called Acme Records & Music Emporium – sometime later this summer at 2341 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The location is three blocks north of Rush-Mor Limited Records, 2635 S. KK. Are we headed toward a hot spot of indie record shops in Bay View?
Chrisien is a WMSE DJ and has worked for many years at Luke Lavin's Bull's Eye Records, behind Comet Cafe, on East Irving Place. His new shop will have some used CDs, he says, but the focus will be on vinyl.
An inveterate scourer of resale shops, rummage sales and other sources, Chrisien most certainly has stockpiled a great selection for his South Side emporium, which he will build out himself. He also built out much of Bull's Eye when it moved south from the Landmark Lanes building, where it was called Farwell Music.
We'll let you know when the shop is ready to open, but you can also follow its progress on the Acme Records & Music Emporium Facebook page.
And remember that Bull's Eye remains open and is still a great source for used, new and collectible vinyl and CDs.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
