{"id":217857,"date":"2026-03-24T09:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217857\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T09:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:43:08","slug":"hitting-houstons-garage-sales-for-music-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217857\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitting Houston’s Garage Sales for Music Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring cleaning is great in Houston. Not just because you\u2019re finally putting out for trash those tacky tchotchkes your horrible boss brought you as souvenirs from some luxury vacation they took or even because you\u2019re hauling clothes you outgrew many meals ago to the Salvation Army, where they might be of real use again. <\/p>\n

Some of the treasure being trashed by our neighbors is gathered and organized for lawn and garage sales. Because the weather is actually enjoyable right now (get it while it lasts), it\u2019s the best time to go on a shopping spree in the driveways and front yards of our fellow Houstonians.<\/p>\n

When I hit the streets for garage sales, I\u2019m looking for music-related items. No disrespect to the fine music retailers of this fine city, the Cactus Musics and Sig\u2019s Lagoons and Vinal Edges and Screwed Up Records we love, trust and rely upon to nourish our insatiable need for the good stuff. But garage sales afford music lovers a unique shopping experience, particularly in a city as large and diverse as ours. You just never know what you\u2019ll find from the closets and storage spaces of millions of folks.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ll pull up to a sale organized by the homeowner who has moved past their classic rock period and is now paring down their Elvis, Beatles and Chuck Berry albums for $2 a record. How\u2019s that for \u201cTwo Buck Chuck?\u201d Or, the one whose concert T-shirt collection has grown so large they\u2019re now willing to part with a few lesser-desired, one-time keepsakes, like that jersey they purchased before The Who\u2019s 2019 Houston show. <\/p>\n

The band quit after eight songs due to an alleged ragweed allergy that night. Hardly a show to remember with a $55 cotton-polyester blend (though, here is our recollection of the night<\/a>, in case you did wish to look back). Maybe they\u2019re selling those Kid Rock and Nicki Minaj T-shirts because they just can\u2019t anymore with Nicki and Jimmy. Maybe those shirts are bad fits for your neighbor now, but not for you. We\u2019re sure you could get them at a much better price than you\u2019d find on Amazon. And, you\u2019d get a little vitamin D in the process.<\/p>\n

Never wanting to advocate for an experience without first attempting it, I decided to hit some of the garage and yard sales in my vicinity, not merely for the journalistic integrity of this bit but also to see what I might plunk a few dollars down for, things I\u2019d seriously be stoked to add to my own music collection. I poured a good coffee into one of those tumblers that keeps heated liquids scathing hot for 10 hours at a time and drove around (not for 10 hours, only a couple) on a sort of a music guided scavenger hunt.<\/p>\n

\"\"Besides small items, look for musical instruments and stereo equipment Credit: Jesse Sendejas, Jr.<\/p>\n

Because I expected to see lots of CDs and even a healthy smattering of cassette tapes out there, I decided to focus only on vinyl albums. Beyond the records and the fashion items, I had a few other scribbles on my wish list, things you\u2019d maybe not be able to get your hands on easily or cheaply, even online.<\/p>\n

We all do it differently, of course, and at the risk of sounding classist, I admit I avoided the most affluent areas for this exercise. The notion of \u201cthe more disposable income, the better the disposables\u201d doesn\u2019t really apply to garage sales. Rich folks can\u2019t be bothered hauling stuff onto the lawn (or into the hallways of their high-rise condos) and just trash or stash things in storage until they die and that priceless Wu-Tang album is next seen at an estate sale. So, I hit the middle-income areas and am taking a sorry, not sorry stance here, seeing it merely as practical to obtaining the most cherished items on my wish list.<\/p>\n

For instance: musical instruments. I\u2019m especially interested in drums, an instrument I hope to learn late in life. These items seem like good garage sale finds because some music-loving, well-meaning parents who thought their kid was gonna be the next Meg White shelled out dough for at least a decent starter kit, only to learn their progeny preferred skateboarding or screenplay writing. Drums take up space, space I have for them, for the right price.<\/p>\n

Maybe you haven\u2019t considered how you might find a nice upright piano or a guitar amp or even a karaoke machine at a garage sale, but you should. According to market researchers, the music instrument industry in the US is at least a $5 billion a year machine. Not all of those instruments and associated gear will be cherished or housed for long in the houses surrounding us.<\/p>\n

\"\"Young Money for little money Credit: Jesse Sendejas, Jr.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t find any instruments on my search, but did come across some cool items I considered buying. One was a record player. As we all know, vinyl records are making a comeback. Last year was the first $1 billion sales year for vinyl albums in the US since 1983. There are so many hip, affordable record players with neat Bluetooth and USB capabilities available now, only a musical MacGruber would have spent $4 on the fixer-upper I saw. Pass. But again, turntables, speakers, record racks, cassette players \u2013 they\u2019re all the kinds of music items you may have some interest in and they are out there, feet away from the curb you\u2019ve parked at for easy hauling.<\/p>\n

Most of what I found of interest were smaller items. At one house \u2013 where shoppers roamed freely, with no homeowner\/seller seemingly overseeing any of the action \u2013 there was a set of coffee mugs, one which read \u201cRock Star\u201d and the other \u201cLittle Rock Star.\u201d Super cute! And, there were records out there, though sadly no original prints of Kind of Blue or The White Album. I bought a copy of Billy Joel\u2019s 52nd Street. I own it already \u2013 on tape, CD, saved in my Spotify favorites and yeah, on vinyl, too. But one can never have enough good copies of Joel\u2019s classics. Have you seen that HBO documentary? Only cried three times watching it. Okay, maybe that\u2019s the subject of a different story.<\/p>\n

The only music T-shirt I noticed in heaps of clothing piled like Kilimanjaro at a garage sale, one where little kids were running crazily up and down the sidewalk like those beserkers in that\u00a0Weapons movie, was a Lil Wayne T-shirt. At the time I smiled at it and passed on it and now regret it since Weezy is about to hit the road to celebrate the 20th anniversary of \u201cTha Carter\u201d series. \u00a0No Houston date has been yet announced, so there\u2019s still time to rummage about for something to wear to the show when or if it ever swings through.<\/p>\n

A sort of one-stop shopping garage sale is Punk Rock Garage Sale<\/a>, a monthly market with music leaning vendors which is hosted by Bad Astronaut Brewing. It\u2019s a lot of fun to ditch the scalding hot, early morning coffee for a mid-afternoon stroll through the music wares while sipping a beer. Maybe you prefer this shopping experience to driving through your neighbors\u2019 cul-de-sacs and master-planned communities.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where I found a bussin\u2019 concert tee commemorating Billy Joel\u2019s July 2015 show at Baltimore\u2019s M&T Bank Stadium. Wearing the shirt has encouraged lots of folks to ask about that show and my answer varies, depending on the mood, between \u201cOMG, it was incredible!\u201d (probably not a lie but still a lie since I wasn\u2019t there) to \u201cI wasn\u2019t there and bought this at a garage sale.\u201d Either answer has led to some fun dialogue about music with fun, music-loving people. That alone was worth the $5 spent on the shirt.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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