Jesse and Denae Medina met in 2017 while parking cars at a music festival, and their first kiss came in the middle of a Smashing Pumpkins concert. So it should surprise no one that these two now run a record shop out of a little brick house.

The Salt Lake Tribune profiled the couple and their new venture, Mood Ring Records, in its coverage of South Salt Lake’s latest rare records shop. It is a sweet story for anyone who still believes in flipping through bins.

They Met As Volunteers At Desert Daze, And Music Never Stopped Being The Point

For Jesse and Denae, enjoying music has never been casual. Jesse spent hours of his childhood watching MTV, hooked by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give it Away” video, while Denae used Limewire to download remix after remix.

The pair met at the Desert Daze festival in 2017, when they were both volunteers parking cars. They recently took their 4-month-old daughter to her first show at Red Butte Garden, to see Interpol and Youth Lagoon.

Even the shop’s name comes from their courtship. Mood Ring Records is named after a song by the band Dehd, one they listened to together when they first started dating.

Their Collection Outgrew A Two-Bedroom Apartment

Jesse’s physical music collection began when he was young, first with CDs on birthdays and Christmas, then with vinyl records starting in 2006. Denae’s collection is smaller, but she ran a music website for 10 years, interviewing bands and reviewing albums.

When the stacks outgrew their two-bedroom apartment, the couple started thinking about opening a store. They moved to Utah in May 2025 from San Diego.

“Too Sterile,” Jesse Said Of The Regular Storefronts, So They Chose A House

Mood Ring Records sits in a historic, charming 1930s brick home in South Salt Lake. It opened seven months ago.

The house was almost an accident. “The concept of it being in a house, and that kind of just happened [by] accident,” Denae said.

They toured a few retail locations, but Jesse said they felt “too sterile.” He explained the goal this way: “We’re really trying to cultivate something that’s more welcoming because we hear from a lot of people that it can be intimidating to go into a record store.”

“How do we counteract that? How do we take away any of the guessing game or feeling judged,” he said. “This felt like the right place to do it.”

Jimmy Buffett, Patsy Cline And Backstreet Boys Share A Room

Right now, the store occupies the front two rooms of the house. It is cozy and stacked to the brim with CDs and records. In the CD room, Jimmy Buffett, Backstreet Boys, Grateful Dead, Patsy Cline and Stevie Nicks share the shelves, and there is a small collection of tapes as well.

The record room has a gallery wall of framed posters from shows the couple has attended together. A frame on a shelf holds physical tickets from Wilco, PJ Harvey and Fountains of Wayne shows. The shop feels like a museum of the couple’s shared love of music.

The stock comes from the Medinas’ own collections, items people bring in and things they order. The records are organized A to Z rather than by genre, and Jesse says the reason is discovery.

“It’s important — the discovery part of it, getting exposed to new music that you maybe otherwise wouldn’t even think to look through,” he said. He added, “I listen to everything,” and said the bins hold country, jazz, hip hop, R&B, electronic, indie, noise, hardcore and punk.

Customers Expect Little, Then “End Up Being In Here For Two Hours”

One of the best parts, Jesse said, is watching skeptics come around. “We have a lot of customers who come in here, and they’re expecting [that because] it’s a house, the record collection is not going to be that cool,” he said. “Then they start looking through the bins and they end up being in here for two hours.”

The shop also takes consignments. Denae said people who bring in their collections are paid 50% of whatever the store is able to sell their items for, and everything in the store is cataloged, so shoppers can see what is in stock on the shop’s website.

The Medinas plan to expand over the next year or two, ideally dedicating the whole house to records and merchandise. They also want to add a listening room where people can hang out. Above all, they want everyone to love music, whatever the genre or artist, as much as they do.

How To Visit, And How To Shop A Record Store Without Feeling Lost

Mood Ring Records is at 130 E. 2100 South in South Salt Lake. It is open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday.

If record stores make you nervous, take a page from the Medinas, who say they built their shop to take away “the guessing game.” Walk in with an open mind, and start with an artist you already love to get a feel for how the bins are arranged.

Ask the person behind the counter for a recommendation, and tell them what you like. Most owners are happy to point you toward something new, and a shop run by two lifelong fans is likely to be especially friendly.

Give yourself time. If customers really do end up staying two hours, you may want to skip the lunch rush and let yourself browse. Check the condition of a record before buying by looking at the surface and the sleeve in good light.

And if your own attic or basement is crowded with old records and CDs, consignment is one way to find them a new home. Just remember that you can see the store’s listings online before you go, so you know what sort of place it is.

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