Kingston, AU | Vinyl is cool again! Kingston store grows to meet demand: If you were a music lover between the 1960’s and 1990’s, you may remember the excitement of peeling that thin plastic layer from the outside of your favourite artist’s vinyl record in a pre-internet era. Tom Stockman certainly does. Tom has always loved music and records. So, when he came to the realisation ‘pretty quickly’ that his eighteen-year-old vision of becoming a famous rock guitarist probably ‘wasn’t going to happen,’ he turned his attention to collecting records instead. …The heyday of vinyl records was without doubt during the 1960’s and 1970’s and few could have imagined it’s entire collapse in the early 1990’s, with the advent and seduction of compact discs. However, Tom continued listening to and collecting records of all genres until, decades later in 2015, and with ‘vinyls’ becoming ‘cool’ again, he decided to gather his treasures and open his first preloved record store in Bungendore.
Vancouver, CA | North Vancouver art exhibit captures historic people and moments through vinyl records: The Historical Records exhibit of 20th century sounds is on until July 14. For about 15 years, Dani Gal collected a specific genre of vinyl records that appeal to both the eyes and ears. The Berlin-based and Jerusalem-born artist and filmmaker’s first Canadian solo exhibit of commercially produced long-play records documenting global historic moments is on display until July 14 at The Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver. Gal bought more than 700 vinyl records as part of his ongoing Historical Records project. The exhibit features part one of the project, which is made up of 246 records Gal bought between 2005 to 2018. Gal became interested in the culture of “sampling”—including an element of someone else’s recording in a composition—over 20 years ago. “I was starting to get curious as to the whereabouts of those samplings and what else you could find there and recorded material that is not music but speech,” Gal says.
Nashville, TN | Record demand leading to new jobs in Music City. Nashville Record Pressing is hiring: Unlike CDs and cassettes, the demand for vinyl records is growing. Because of vinyl’s revival, record manufacturers like Nashville Record Pressing are hiring. Right now, the manufacturing director says there are more than two dozen jobs to fill at the vinyl pressing plant on Brick Church Park Drive in Nashville. There are openings in quality assurance, assembly, machine maintenance and even recycling. “We’d love to have people who are music friendly,” said Kourtlyn Immel, the chief of staff. “Maybe we’ve got some musicians coming to town [and] they’re looking for a gig before they get their next gig. People who are into vinyl and people who are not into vinyl, but into a really cool workplace.” They manufacturer is expanding, which should allow them to produce more than 2 million records every month.
UK | Wax Heads, the record-shop video game that channels High Fidelity: Far from a business sim, players act as tastemaker for a litany of lovable oddballs that swing by, using clues to deduce the perfect album recommendation. Every time I go through a breakup, I’m compelled to rewatch the noughties classic High Fidelity, in which OG softboi John Cusack mournfully chronicles a “top 10 list” of his all-time worst breakups, soundtracked by the albums that accompanied them. Rather than his parade of enthralling exes, including a wonderfully vapid Catherine Zeta-Jones, it’s Cusack’s record shop, Championship Vinyl, that’s the film’s star. A sanctuary for a hurting Cusack, this battered boutique becomes a refuge for Chicago’s other lost souls, giving its perennially hungover proprietor and a gaggle of local music nerds a place to lick their wounds. It’s this kind of DIY community spirit that spills out of the screen as I dive into Wax Heads, a narrative game about managing a struggling record shop.
OK | Vinyl Record Show of Oklahoma City, OK / Edmond, OK: Saturday, June 24, 2023, 10:00am-4:00pm. Join us for our first-ever Oklahoma show! Vinyl LP Records by the tens of thousands. There will also be plenty of 45’s, CDs, T-shirts, posters, some cassettes and a few 78’s as well. You will find LP’s priced as low as $1.00 for the budget-minded buyer as well as collectible records for hundreds of dollars for the more serious collectors. Something for everyone! There will be an ATM available on-site. Plenty of FREE parking. Kids under 13 have free admission. We can’t wait to see you there!
Pretoria, ZA | Centurion hosts the Third Vinyl Fair event: The Vinyl Fair celebrates the resurgence of vinyl records worldwide. If you like the sound of a needle landing on a vinyl record, the Cherry Berry Café in Doringkloof, Centurion, was the place to be this weekend. This follows after a group of record dealers, about eight from around Gauteng, came together with crates full of vinyl records to host the Third Vinyl Fair on Saturday. The organizer, Werner Schulze from Ear Candy Records, said the Vinyl Fair is about celebrating the resurgence of vinyl records worldwide. He said there are a lot of people buying vinyl records, and records are being pressed again. “It is quite exciting to hear the sound of a needle landing on a record,” said Schulze. He said the great thing about vinyl records is that you can hold the record in your hands and read the track.
South Bend, IN | Popular one-day record store returns to South Bend: One of the Midwest’s largest vinyl and music expos returned to the Gillespie Conference Center at the Hilton Garden Inn on Sunday. 38 vendors from six different states occupied over 100 tables at the South Bend Record Show, selling various music items such as 45s, CDs, and new vinyl releases. All genres of music were represented strongly, and drawings were held for the chance to win $25 worth of shopping certificates and record products from BCW Supplies. The show continues to draw crowds every year. “We’re seeing customers who have grown up with the medium like myself who never really stop listening to vinyl, to people who either sold their collections or their mom got rid of it and they’re rebuying their collections, to people who are discovering it for the first time,” says Jeremy Bonfiglio, organizer of the South Bend Record Show.
Greenfield, WI | Sebastian Bach Announces In-Store Signing Session For His ‘Child Within The Man’ Album: Sebastian Bach will hold an in-store signing session Volta Records in Greenfield, Wisconsin on June 6 as part of his “Child Within The Man” tour. The greet-and-greet will start at 5 p.m. and will run for two hours. Show up early to secure your spot in line. Customers who buy a copy of Bach’s “Child Within The Man” album (on LP, CD or cassette) can get that signed and then also get another personal item signed and take a picture. Already bought a copy of the album from Volta? Just bring your receipt and you will be covered. Bach said: “I am so excited to do the 1st Record InStore Signing Session I have done since I can remember! Which is to say I can’t remember the last time I did an Instore at a Record Store to sign copies of my new album!”
