Mellow Matt’s: bowling green’s vinyl icon
BOWLING GREEN- Ky.
Anyone in Bowling Green associated with the music scene will know the iconography of a certain man’s iconic spiky hair and set of wayfarer glasses placed next to a vinyl record. These characteristics belong to Matt Pfefferkorn, better known as “Mellow Matt;” owner of Mellow Matt’s Music and More on Smallhouse Rd. in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The record store was founded in 2013 after Pfefferkorn realized there wasn’t a truly independent record store in Bowling Green. After having a Grateful Dead show on 93.3 D93, Mellow Matt was coined as a DJ name. The glasses and hair iconography was Kim Pfefferkorn’s idea, Matt’s wife. According to her, everyone knew Matt by his hair. “You gotta capitalize on that. You gotta use that image on something,” said Kim. Pfefferkorn’s image and experience with the record business from working at Record Bar, Mellow Matt’s was born.
From New Jersey, Pfefferkorn moved to Bowling Green and went to school during the 1980s when local bands like Government Cheese, Walk the West and Jason & the Scorchers were big in the local music scene. Having friends who were associated with the local bands and bars at the same time, Pfefferkorn was privy to local music.
“That was one of the things when I opened that I wanted to make a priority of having, bands doing in-store CD release parties, doing special events like Record Store Day, that type of thing, but always be involved in what's going on musically. Because it was a big part of my life growing up,” said Pfefferkorn. “We want to make it like a party. You know, it's like a community type thing. It's where we've got all these other local businesses joining into it.”
Jack Dobbs, an ex-employee of Mellow Matt’s, said he spends almost every day at Matt’s even after switching jobs. “[His store] encourages comradery over music…People may think differently but they can bond over music.” Dobbs said that Pfefferkorn lives up to his nickname as being “the most mellow person and one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.” Dobbs said he is looking forward to getting more vinyl from Matt’s on Record Store Day.
Mellow Matt’s has an annual celebration of its opening date in October, featuring a live lot performance from local bands, as well as having Record Store Day which will be on April 22, 2023. Record Store Day is one of Pfefferkorn’s favorite parts of working at Mellow Matt’s because it encourages bonding between people with music.
“I wanted to make sure we had bands playing whether it's local or regional, especially during Record Store Day, because Record Store Day is kind of like Christmas for the music person. You know, it's a fun day and we want to make it the best thing we can,” said Pfefferkorn.
Photo by Jack Dobbs
