Exploring Life & Business with Chris Joutras & Anna Greenwood of Kitschy Spirit Records

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Joutras & Anna Greenwood

Chris & Anna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Chris: Since my early 20’s, I’ve been involved in underground and punk music. I started collecting records of the bands I saw or played shows with and traded records with my friends of our respective bands. I started Kitschy Spirit Records in 2012 as a D.I.Y. record and cassette label to put out my bands and friends’ bands albums. I would dub cassettes at home and order pressings of 7″ records whenever I could afford it. When we’d go on tour, we’d always visit any and all notable record stores in each city, so I spent a considerable amount of time in record shops either at home or on road trips.

In the summer of 2020, my partner and now wife, Anna Greenwood, and I moved to Calumet in the Upper Peninsula from Madison, WI. I worked numerous odd jobs until one day I saw a small office room for rent. I had recently procured a couple 1,000 old budget records from a shop that had closed in town a few years earlier, so I suddenly felt inspired to open the shop! We decided to keep the name of record label as the name of the shop, to help promote our own records/bands on our roster.

In February of 2024, we moved into our current location at 307 6th Street in downtown Calumet in the gorgeous Ryan Block building, which was built in 1898. The building at one point was a theatre and has a lot great of history, as with most buildings in Calumet. With the larger space, we’ve been able to host small concerts in the shop, as well as house even more music!

Anna: I grew up in a big musical family. Music has always been a passion of mine in some form throughout my life, and when I met Chris it is partially what brought us together. It just seemed like a no brainer to start our own path in the industry together. It truly is a passion project and Chris has been doing an amazing job at running the store. We recently moved to a space where we are able to host small events for the community, which has always been a goal for us. The new location is still a work in progress, but I am really proud of how far we have come.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Chris: It can definitely sometimes be difficult being a small, somewhat-niche, business in a tiny town in a remote area of the U.P.! Our customer base fluctuates depending on the both the seasonal tourism and when class at the nearby college is in session. But we have a lot of loyal local supporters and we always strive to make everyone who visits experience great so that they come back next time they are up north! We try to offer a vast array of different music so that there’s something for everyone. We also put a lot of energy into supporting the local and regional music scene, and I think that helps as well, besides being a passion of ours!

Anna: Like Chris said of course there are challenges, but I have been really happy with the amount of support we have gotten from our community. Since we have moved to a storefront, our business has grown. We have a few projects we are hoping to finish up this year to the interior that will super exciting. We’ve also have plans to install an outdoor sign that will help with our visibility.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The record store has a diverse selection of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, books, and stereo equipment. New and used. We have a small stage in the store that makes us able to host concerts, open mics, and most recently a fund raiser for our local Keweenaw Pride Fest. We want to grow and foster our music scene and give people a place to perform and meet other musicians.

Staying true to our roots, one aspect of Kitschy Spirit is our record label! Kitschy Spirit Records, the label, is home to some great U.P. and upper mid-west artists from : Liquid Mike, Lena Maude, Bongo Frontier, etc… The music varies from pop-rock, to electronic, to punk, to avant-garde. We release and distribute cassettes and vinyl records of our bands and help promote them.

Each year in September we host a weekend music festival called YOOP! Fest in Calumet. The fest features some bands from the record label, as well regional punk and underground bands from the Great Lakes area and beyond! It’s a great way to come together as a music community, for people to enjoy the Keweenaw Peninsula, and to share some raw energetic music to give us all a boost! This year (our fourth year) YOOP! Fest is Sept 20th and 21st at the gorgeous and historic Calumet Theatre!

We want to inspire people to play and share their experiences through live music!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Anna: I love Robyn.

Chris: “Get In The Van” by Henry Rollins changed my life. “Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerrad was also key.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kitschyspirit.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitschyspirit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KitschySpirit/
• Other: instagram.com/yoopfest facebook.com/yoopfest.mi