Celebrating Record Store Day: Local shops join worldwide record store experience

By Garret Schuelke
Western Herald

This Saturday, record stores around the world will be participating in an annual event known as Record Store Day.

The official Web site for Record Store Day has a section featuring quotes by famous musicians, including Tom Waits, Henry Rollins and Ziggy Marley, discussing the importance of independent record stores and their own personal experiences with them.

Rock ‘n’ roll music pioneer, Chuck Berry, whose hits include “Maybelline” and “Roll over Beethoven,” is quoted as saying, “music is an important part of our culture, and record stores play a vital part in keeping the power of music alive.”

“This is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit,” said Eric Levin, owner of Atlanta, Ga. record store Criminal Records and co-founder of Record Store Day.

“Every year has gotten better. Record stores from all over are picking up on it.”

Founded on April 19, 2008, with a concert by heavy metal group Metallica in a Rasputin Music record store in San Francisco, Calif. Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday of every April, according to the event’s official Web site.

Participating record stores sell and give away special vinyl and CD releases created exclusively for the event, including singles and other related music items.

Due to high media attention, the event started spreading internationally the first day it began, Levin said.  Other participating countries, which are listed on the events Web site, include the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and Serbia.

“Some of the best stories I have heard come from the record stores themselves,” Levin said. “Not only is Record Store Day spreading around the world, but some countries are even getting items that are not available here in America.”

Kalamazoo’s own record stores, Green Light Music and Video, and Corner Record Shop & Audio, are among the hundreds of record stores in the United States participating in Record Store Day.

“This is a good chance for people to come out and purchase some good music at prices they can afford,” said Joe Senn, manager of Corner Record Shop.

Corner Record Shop & Audio, like other record stores, will celebrate Record Store Day in their own way. According to Senn, they plan on making RecordStore Day a weekend event, starting with an in-store concert by blues artist Shannon Curfman on Thursday, April 15. The weekend will also include local bands, DJs, and special deals.

“We hope people will come out,” Senn said. “Music is what it’s all about.”

Green Light Music and Video will also have DJs and special guests on Record Store Day, including Richard Bowser, guitarist for Kalamazoo hardcore group Violent Apathy. The selection of products this year, according to Green Light manager Chris Hansen, is less than last year’s. Nonetheless, Hansen describes the product quantity as a “crapshoot.”

“It is kind of a gamble, which is part of the fun,” Hansen said. “What you get is what you get.”

Besides products they have received from distributers, including vinyl, CDs, posters, and stickers, Green Light will also feature products that they have stored up from previous months.

“It is a really cool day for independent record stores to get their names out,” Hansen said. “This stuff is going to go fast.”

More information about Record Store Day, as well as a list of participating record stores, can be found at the official Web site, www.recordstoreday.

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Posted by kleonard on Apr 14 2010. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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