The Bartender and Father Who Has Over 1,000 Records

By Avery Weber 

Thomas Weber holds up one of his favorite records, “My Funny Valentine” by Miles Davis, in his office space in his home. Photo by Avery Weber.

Having two kids, two jobs, and a full-time hobby is not something many can balance, but Thomas Weber is one of the few who excels at that. Ever since he was a young teenager living in the wilderness of Poconos in Pennsylvania, he has always loved the sound of music. While he was constantly moving around in his childhood, he would always find a way to listen to music whether it be in the wild west of Texas or in a random town in Germany. He grew up in an era where music wasn’t as easily able to be streamed. Though it was hard to get his hands on music, it wouldn't stop him from growing up to become someone who has over one-thousand records in his living room.

Thomas Weber is now living in the heart of Tennessee, Nashville, with his two kids and wife. He has had several careers over his sixty years of life, but the one that stuck was being a bartender. Thomas works as an event bartender and is usually bartending nights at least four days out of the week. That's not his only career, however; he manages his own blog, is a top manager of his bartending company, and often works in insurance. Through this adventure of jobs, he has not lost sight of his hobby of collecting records. His estimate of how much the records would be worth, in his words, “enough to get us out this place.”

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

What was the first record you got, what did it mean to you?

The first record I ever got would have been … Elvis, “Raised on Rock.” I think I was about ten at the time and I was living in Texas, I believe. I couldn’t get records in Germany; they weren’t that common where I lived in Germany. My parents weren’t big music fans, so I found my way to it from friends. It was cool at that time to like music, so I wanted to be cool. I went to a local bookstore and that's where I saw it. It was my favorite at the time. We spent probably hours going through the collection they had; I was too indecisive to pick right away. After a very long time, I settled on that album, and for the next few days, I listened to it nonstop.

How did the collection begin?

My friends and I visited a bookstore that was near us that held very limited records. I knew I wanted one, so I saved up my money just for that day to buy my very first record. I already told you a bit of this story, but this bookstore was were all the teens from the local high school used to go. So, I wanted to be apart of that. All my friends did.

How have you managed to balance not only the extensive collection, but also multiple jobs and a full-time family?

It hasn’t been easy, but I wouldn't change this life for anything. My family is my number one concern, and I try to get everyone anything they need or take them anywhere they need to be. Bartending isn’t the type of job that is accessible for families. It hurts having to be away for long nights, but we need the money. It’s nice to listen to records on my days off, whenever I’m working for home, it’s also nice to have some background music. It’s hard to balance everything I love, but it does not mean I won’t try.

You have been working for most of your life, bring me through that journey.

Well, I started out doing odd jobs for my family, just helping around the neighborhood you know what I mean. I was going to go to college, but I had already been working in the food industry for a while at this point, since I was 14, so when I got to college, I dropped out shortly after. It’s probably one of my biggest regrets. I started bartending once I turned 21, and I’ve continued with that almost 40 years later. I worked in some company work in hopes to get away from bartending, but I never could quite make the same amount of money I make bartending. Insurance was something I did work on, but it’s not something that stuck. [pauses] I guess my real full-time job is taking care of my two kids. Though they're much more grown up now, there's not that much left for me to do.