The rumors are true.

Matt Shaver’s record store is one of the few of its kind. Even avid music lovers, despite the age of the internet, iPods and Pandora, can still find a variety of musical treasures yet to be heard.

Shaver has another valuable commodity for those passionate about music: discovery.  By day, the store peddles flat, black discs, musical instruments and various equipment. By night, it is also a concert venue, where new area musicians can try out their tunes on an open-minded crowd.

Shaver’s love of music began when he was a child growing up in Portage, Indiana. It was a music store called the Bop Stop that, much like the one that resembles his own, first inspired his passion for music and would eventually serve as a model for the type of music shop he wanted to own.

Shaver recalls mowing lawns, shoveling sidewalks and raking leaves to earn money to pick out new records from the store, where music guru John Shephard watched coolly behind the counter.

“I bought a lot of his albums,” Shaver recalled. “He was an arsenal of knowledge.”

This atmosphere inspired Shaver to become the musical expert he is today, but he did not always know that he wanted to do business in Niles.

Following his passion for music, Shaver went from scraping dimes for records to standing front row at concerts in Chicago, capturing musicians through the lens of a camera. Eventually, Shaver wanted to be closer to his family in Sturgis, so he began searching for a place that would be accommodating for him and an aging Doberman. After a meal at Riverfront Cafe, Shaver took a stroll down a few of the brick paved streets. He saw families riding their bikes along the riverfront as the autumn leaves that bordered the water displayed molten shades of red, orange and yellow. He knew then that was the place he wanted to call home.

“I loved Niles,” Shaver said. “Niles sold Niles.”

In August 2008, he bought the building that currently houses Rumor.

Shaver co-owns the store with Karl Erdman.

On an average day at the store, Shaver takes up his domain in the back of the store, closest to the turntable rigged to the sound system so he may flip or change the disc. There is never a time when customers will be greeted by silence. Shaver plays what he is in the mood for. Today it is indie band Two Door Cinema Club. Tomorrow it might be the Kinks or Gorillaz.

Shaver said he has been trying to get Shephard, who he still keeps in touch with, to check out his store.

“I hope he comes in and is like, ‘Good job, man.’” Shaver said.

Shaver also looks out for kids, much like himself years earlier, with a few dollars to spare and a hunger for new music.

“That demographic is kind of growing,” Shaver said.

He recently sold posters to a 12-year-old girl who visited the store with her grandparents. He said if he sees an interested young music lover, he would set some albums aside for them to try.

One thing he has noticed, and prides his business on, is having a little of something for everyone: grandparents, grandchildren, moms, dads, high schoolers, youth.

“It is not really that I encourage per se, but they just come in and start exploring,” Shaver said.

That exploration, Shaver said, is a chance to open people’s minds from more than just what they might hear on the radio.

“You go to a record store and it is not supposed to be a boring snooze fest,” Shaver said. “It should be fun.”