House of Sound’s history of providing good music to Portland residents spans over 6 decades.

House of Sound began as a record store, founded in 1964 by NFL Hall of Famer, Melvin Renfro, House of Sound would serve Portland’s Black community as one of the very few locations where Black people could shop for music made and distributed by Black artists and record labels.

Mr. Renfro would transfer ownership of the record shop to David Dawson and Willie Harris, who ran House of Sound record store in the historic Albina neighborhood, right next door to the barbershop owned by Mr. Harris. Under their leadership, House of Sound would flourish as a business and become a landmark and safe haven for Portland’s Black populous to congregate to not only listen to good music and get a decent hair cut, but also form long lasting bonds with other community members. For the next few decades, House of Sound would continue to sell music to the community until it closed its doors in 2002.

In 2009, The House of Sound moniker was utilized for a radio/internet radio station, still providing good music to the city, except over the airways. In 2015, House of Sound officially became a non-profit (501c3) and served as Portland’s only free form, internet radio station, www.houseofsound.org

In 2021 Houseofsound.org went on a hiatus in order to reorganize and rebrand. The new House of Sound team began promoting the House of Sound podcast as well as taking part in community events throughout the city of Portland. Houseofsound.org has resumed broadcasting music and is in the process of creating all new shows and content. Our goal is to carry on the legacy of the original House of Sound store by being a place where community members can hear good music as well as have their voices heard .