Ravi Shankar and The Supremes smile down on a light wood countertop, where a composition book is opened to a pencil drawing of an ape. A quick flip through the handmade wooden record bins and shelves of cassettes reveals a colorful collection of music from around the world, ranging from Peru to Indonesia, Turkey to Nigeria. Welcome to Little Axe Records.
Little Axe is named after Willmer “Little Axe” Broadnax, a gospel singer from the group Spirit of Memphis. “I was really into gospel music then, and I liked their story,” Warren Hill, the co-owner of Little Axe Records, said of his music taste at the time the store was founded.
Broadnax lived life as a man, and only after his autopsy in 1992 was he revealed to have biologically been a woman, music-writer Michael Corcoran said in an article published on his website. “I thought it was very cool that they existed in this world in a way that worked for them,” Hill said.
Starting in Warren Hill and Jed Bindeman’s garage, Little Axe opened its doors in 2011. Hill and Bindeman currently own the Springfield store and another in Portland. Hill also runs the Little Axe record label, which releases current and reissued world music as well as old-school mixtapes.
After he stumbled across a collection of Chinese records in a thrift store, Hill developed a passion for world music which led him to travel across the globe in search of new sounds. Hill lived in Taipei and Taiwan for a few years and later traveled throughout Indonesia recording and collecting music. “I like to be open to things that come to me,” Hill said. “I’m more interested in the things that I encounter.”
One of Hill’s recent encounters involved a trip to Nigeria with Christopher Kirkley, founder of Sahel Sounds record label, to collaborate on a project involving traditional Hausa music. “He has a hard-core, absolutely no bribes policy,” Hill said of Kirkley. “We went to jail a few times.”
In their search for local musicians the pair ended up in Isa, a small town in northern Nigeria, where they would ultimately be detained. With no preparation and no place to stay, Hill and Kirkley went to see the town’s Emir, or ruler, who put them up in an empty house, and promised his court musicians the following day. “They put on this incredible performance, tons of people came from all around,” said Hill. The local police also attended the performance, and once it came to an end, they demanded compensation for policing the event. Unsurprisingly, “Christopher [Kirkley] said no,” Hill said with a laugh. The apologetic Emir, who had no authority over the police, basically said, “Sorry, I can’t do anything. You’re off to jail.”
The officers led Hill and Kirkley to a small prison room. They were allowed to contact the U.S. embassy, though received no aid. Afterwards, they were loaded into a police truck. “I was very nervous when they put us in the truck,” Hill said. “There were several dudes with machine guns driving us into the desert. Who knows where or what, that starts to feel very concerning.”
Eventually the pair weaseled their way out of the situation without paying the bribe. Despite the imprisonment, the encounter was fruitful, resulting in an album titled Harafin So, which is available on the Little Axe website.
Hill and his wife recently had a child, and his days now involve less travel and certainly no jail time. However, Hill looks forward to one day traveling to Peru to record traditional Huayno music, the next stop on his journey of encountering and distributing under-recognized music from underrepresented cultures. “I think it’s great to go outside of your comfort zone and meet people that you wouldn’t necessarily encounter,” Hill said.
Little Axe is the fruit of Hill’s passion for music, and his genuine desire to share new sounds with his customers. “Honestly, I don’t really care if it makes money,” Hill said. “I kinda like it, I think it’s cute and it’s my vibe. And I love having an excuse to go buy more crap.”
