In the twilight of the 1990s, Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, was a town defined by its historic past and unpredictable floods. It was also home to The Sound Exchange, a tiny record shop on Main Street that served as an underground punk and indie haven. Born out of a desperate search for belonging, the store quickly grew into an oddball ecosystem where punk kids, antique dealers, burnout locals, and lost souls all collided.

Exiled From Main Street follows local resident Josh from a displaced youth searching for refuge to the center of a volatile, tight-knit counterculture. Through late-night conversations, in-store shows, and a string of precarious decisions, he fought to keep the business alive while navigating a complicated personal life and an unpredictable internal landscape that constantly threatened to pull him under. It is a deeply personal look at the heavy weight of independence, and the high cost of chasing a dream when your own vulnerabilities and the world around you are fighting back.

Scored to a precise, pre-Y2K soundtrack, this is a raw, honest chronicle of community, identity, and resilience in a fleeting era of music history. It explores the overlooked corners of America where misfits build families of their own, documenting the difficult, necessary evolution that happens when the music finally stops.

JOSH GREENBAUM was born in New York City, raised in Columbia, Maryland, and moved to Ellicott City in 1996, where he owned and operated the independent record store Sound Exchange. His music journalism and essays have been featured on the Cave Dweller Music, Dagger Zine sites, his long-running blog Audiolore, and in the anthology Where the Wild Gigs Were: Volume 2. For a decade, he also owned and operated Downtown NYC Walking Tours, guiding visitors through the deep musical and cultural histories of SoHo, TriBeCa, and Chinatown. After spending twenty years immersing himself in everything Manhattan had to offer, he now lives in Southern California with his wife, their dog, and two cats. This is his first book.