You can't miss Rhino Books, the latest addition to the tiny row of shops a few blocks south of Woodmont Boulevard, across from David Lipscomb University. There, in the display window next to the front door, a giant brass statue of a horned beast stands like a guardian of the vintage paperbacks that lie scattered at its feet.
Rhinos abound inside as well, though tucked less obtrusively into the decor. Dozens of them peek from various vantage points, some positioned behind the old soda fountain counter that survives from the days when Hutcherson's drugstore did business here. Others are scattered throughout the room, witnesses to the traffic in sales and trade that has transpired since Fred Koller and Don Cook opened for business just after the new year.
Music business veterans have long known and respected Koller as one of their own—a consummate singer-songwriter long before that appellation became fashionable. His songs have been featured on his own albums and on those by scores of other artists, including Kathy Mattea (“Goin' Gone,” “Life As We Knew It,” “She Came From Fort Worth”), Nanci Griffith (“Lone Star State of Mind”) and the Jeff Healey Band (“Angel Eyes”).
What's less known is that Koller has long been as passionate about books as he is about music. “I've always loved to read,” he says. “I read the Oz books before I was 5 or 6 years old. I'm voracious. I've been trapped in people's homes on vacations, with no books; I wind up reading cereal boxes.”
Koller is still active as a songwriter and recording artist; his latest album, a collection of works co-written with Shel Silverstein, was released by Gadfly Records in 2001 under the title No Song Left to Sell. Yet after years of concentrating on music alone, he began to feel the need to broaden his work. Back in the '70s he ran a bookstore near Santa Cruz in California, and last year he started thinking about trying it again in Nashville.
The opportunity presented itself when Koller drove past the vacant storefront that Rhino now occupies. He knew at once that this was an ideal place for his business. “You want to be in a neighborhood where there's a community that can walk to your store,” he explains. “That's what we have here, along with two really good restaurants—Pizza Perfect and Green Hills Market—right next door. We're also right across from a college and a high school, so we hope to get some trade from the students.”
It was a completely empty space when Koller signed his lease. Over the next few months he filled it with homey touches—a new ceiling, soft gray carpeting, Oriental rugs, wood shelves along the walls and angled throughout the room, potted ferns, a community bulletin board and a small corner stage for live music and readings. He added a sound system and stocked it with his own CDs, from Baroque to folk to vintage jazz. He brought in books from his own massive personal collection.
“It's a clean, well-lighted place,” he says. “I know that's the name of a bookstore out in Palo Alto, but if they didn't already have that name, it would be a perfect way to describe what I'm trying to do here.”
With no advertising budget, word about Rhino Books has begun to spread on its own. Trade is brisk and varied, from antiquarian volumes to period items like the Hippies, Hindus and Rock & Roll tract displayed behind the coffee counter. Activities, including monthly discussion groups and a bookmark design contest, are being planned.
The one thing the store needs is...more rhinos. “If anybody has a rhino statue, they can bring it in, and we'll trade it for something,” Koller says. “I really want this to be a place where you can expect the unexpected.”
