For the record, Geo’s Music has new location

George “Geo” Case recently lost the lease for his space in the Federal Building, where he had operated a music store for years.

But it could turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to his business.

Case is all about music. In addition to owning Geo’s Music, he is also the leader of popular local funk band Geo C and Tha Storm.

His tiny shop in the Federal Building — near the corner of Federal and Phelps streets in downtown Youngstown — was always crammed with new and used CDs, cassettes, VHS tapes, vinyl records, DVDs and comic books.

But earlier this summer, Case was told he couldn’t stay. The Federal Building has changed hands, and the new owners are renovating it, adding apartments to the upper floors and new retail space on the ground level.

A new tenant coming in will need all of the building’s Federal Street frontage, including Geo’s Music and an empty adjacent storefront. (Word on the street has it that it will be a second location of a popular Valley restaurant.)

So Case was forced to scramble. He looked at eight downtown locations as potential new sites.

What he settled on is a little building at 228 W. Boardman St., next to the Oakland Center for the Arts. Geo’s Music quietly opened last week in the new location, the remodeling and moving still in progress.

To call the building unassuming is an understatement. It’s a drab, one-story cement-block building with faded yellow paint. Vacant for years, it once housed a dental office.

But it represents a whole new start for Case. He envisions it becoming much more than a music and collectibles store.

First off, it’s about four times the size of his old store. That means Case will finally be able to display his large stock of vinyl records — which are in vogue with music collectors. There was room for only a tiny fraction of the vinyl in the old storeroom.

More importantly, Case plans to turn his new location into a music mecca: a recording studio, a place where bands can hold private performances, and a practice space for his own band. He envisions it as a hub for music, the same way the Lemon Grove Cafe (which will mark its first anniversary Aug. 6), has become a gathering spot for art, lectures, meetings and eclectic endeavors.

Case, who also works with people with developmental disabilities at Purple Cat, feels lucky to be one of those people who gets to do all the things he wants to do. The new store, he said, will pull it all together.

“Finally, I will have [all of my businesses] in one house,” he said.

Improvements to the outside will begin soon. The exterior will be painted purple and the artistically-inclined Case will paint a mural across the front, probably of musical greats.

Incidentally, Case said leaving downtown was never an option. He is committed to the downtown renaissance, and hopes his store will be a catalyst in spreading renewal to West Boardman Street.

For Case, the new location is a fresh start that represents a promising future.

But an even bigger change is in store for Case: He’s about to become a father.

Case’s wife, Melody (who also handles keyboards, flute and some vocals in Tha Storm) is 41/2 months pregnant.

“We’re hoping for an artistic, athletic, music-loving little boy or girl,” he said. (Case was a baseball player in high school and college.)

The Strange Familiar fails to impress judges

The Strange Familiar didn’t get much love from the judges Tuesday night on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” The rock band, which includes Boardman native Nick Sainato on drums (the other members are from Cuyahoga Falls), performed Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”

The judges praised the band for its raw talent and gave it some encouragement for the future. But they clearly weren’t impressed with the performance they had just witnessed. Howie Mandel said it lacked the “wow factor.” Sharon Osbourne said it was a poor choice of music and questioned the band’s direction (“you are like a tribute band from the ’80s”).

Piers Morgan went so far as to say powerful lead vocalist Kira Leyden should get rid of the band and become a solo act.