Queen B Vinyl Café is more than a record store, café or event space. Music, art, food and belonging intersect at this sensory-rich refuge in Cottonwood.
“We’re a very small venue in a rural area, so I just try to bring a lot of very interesting things to the community,” said co-owner/manager Jennifer Keenan.
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Open since Oct. 23, 2024, at 102 E. Pima Street, Queen B, greets guests with the crackle of vinyl, the aroma of roasted coffee and the hum of conversation. The space houses a curated record store and event venue, as well as a café, coffee roaster, wine bar, and an unexpected barbershop.
The building also houses a full design studio, offering custom tailoring, upcycling and DTG on-demand printing.
“It just really feels like a neighborhood café and neighborhood hangout spot,” she said. “You can show up as you are, and you have a place. You won’t be judged. You’ll be included and accepted.”
That sense of welcome is intentional. Growing up in the Midwest, she found solace in live music.
“I think, in hindsight, I was looking for that kind of safe place where I could go and learn and be myself. Now I’ve created that here.”
Queen B’s event lineup reflects its mission of bringing art, music and creativity to Northern Arizona.
On Sunday, March 8, the store will collaborate with the nonprofit Women in Vinyl for the latter’s International Women’s Day 1% Drive with a free event. The all-day, all-ages event starts at 11 a.m. with a DJ on the café side, and flash tattoos in the barbershop.
On the record shop side, Queen B will have paintings, book signings, poem readings, dancers and comedians, further highlighting women in the arts and entertainment industry. See the full schedule here.
Women in Vinyl’s director of partnerships, Keenan is passionate about creating pathways for women and marginalized people in the vinyl industry.
“I had no idea these types of jobs even existed when I was growing up,” Keenan said. “If someone had said, ‘Hey, do you want a scholarship to see what it’s like to make records?’ I think it would have changed my life much sooner.”
The organization offers scholarships, mentorships, and educational opportunities, from vinyl-cutting camps to industry conferences. Queen B’s International Women’s Day event is a celebration and a fundraiser for the cause.
Specials are also slated for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 18. Now in its eighth year, Queen B’s celebration includes limited vinyl releases in the morning and live performances in the evening.
“It’s always a big day for us.”
The store hosts monthly brunch clubs featuring four-course prix-fixe menus paired with house-roasted coffees, wines, and meads. Sushi pop-ups have become so popular that Queen B is expanding to weekly events, all leading up to the unscheduled opening of Queen Bee Sushi Café, a standalone restaurant just down the street.
“There’s so much happening,” she said with a laugh. “You never know what the day is going to be like.”
The café side of Queen B is as thoughtfully curated as the vinyl. The owners raise much of their own produce, along with chickens and ducks, creating a true farm-to-(turn)table experience. The menu is flexible and playful, with the restaurant serving ramen for breakfast, eggs for dinner, burgers and hot dogs alongside specialty coffee drinks and housemade wine and mead.
“Everything complements the coffee drinks or our wine and mead,” she explained. “It keeps things fresh. You don’t get stuck in a rut.”
Though Keenan joked that she has “no musical talent,” her background in sculpture and photography shapes the store’s visual identity.
“My parents always said I’d never do anything with my art degree,” she said. “But I actually use it every day in our displays, our photos, our social media.”
Her love of Japanese and Taiwanese fashion also influences the shop’s small clothing selection.
“Everything is unisex,” said Keenan, who is of Taiwanese descent. “We bring in limited pieces from Japan. Anything goes.”
Music planted the seed for her career. For her first concert, she snuck into a Faith No More gig at a tiny Oklahoma club. Her first “big” show was Jane’s Addiction and both experiences were formative.
“I loved the energy,” Keenan said. “You’d see every kind of person at these concerts. It didn’t matter if there was a jock or a skater. They were into the music. Everyone was on the same level.”
Keenan is married to musician Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle, among other projects. They met through a mutual friend while working in Denver. “It was really just by chance,” she said. The two have been married for 14 years.
To the couple and their employees, Queen B Vinyl Café is more than a business.
“We bring a lot of culture,” she said. “We have events that wouldn’t normally come to this area, a sense of belonging, a place where you can show up as you are.”
