County Records: Local musical destination closes: One of Floyd’s musical landmarks ended last week. County Records closed on Wednesday, January 17. Long before the Friday Night Jamboree or FloydFest, County Records drew widespread interest to Floyd. The business was located down Talley Alley. For over half a century, Dave Freeman has collected, preserved and promoted old time and bluegrass music. His interest made Floyd a hub for musical enthusiasts. Freeman, who now lives in Durham, NC, will soon be 79 years old. “It’s time to retire,” he told the Press.
New music cafe on the cards for Dumbarton town centre: A Dumbarton music lover is seeking to transform the town centre with the launch of a new record store and coffee shop. Robert McKain has been running record stores for almost a decade and is now planning to bring his love for vinyl to his own home town with a new store on 137a Glasgow Road. The venue, named Big Sparra Music Cafe, is set to open its doors on February 1 and hopes to bring a new twist to the town. “If you do not drink alcohol in this town there is no where to go and just enjoy music,” Robert told the Lennox Herald. “We want to give specialist music knowledge combined with the best coffee in Dumbarton.
Crate Diggers: Stuart Leath: The hardest working man in music, Stuart Leath unpacks the 15,000-strong record collection behind the trailblazing Emotional Rescue, and his five (!) other labels. Stuart Leath – Chuggy to his friends – is rightly known as one of the most-prolific one-man operations in underground music. Celebrating just five years in the business in 2017, he’s on the verge of another bumper year, with twenty records already lined-up and ready to hit the shelves in 2018…With a beautiful room stacked floor to ceiling (and cupboards deep) dedicated to records, he invited us into his London home for an insight into one of the most eclectic collections in the capital.
‘Chess Northern Soul Vol III’ Offers More Floorfillers & Rarities: The next instalment in the highly-praised Chess Northern Soul 7” series will be released on 16 March. Chess Northern Soul Vol III is compiled, like its predecessors, by one of the great experts in the field, Ady Croasdell. It will feature seven more double-sided, seven-inch singles featuring great flooorfillers from the storied Chess, Checker, Cadet and Argo catalogue, in a deluxe presentation box. The singles will feature the authentic UK livery of the Chess label of the era, with black and silver and black and gold labels in a black and yellow label sleeve. The box includes an eight-page leaflet with detailed notes written by Croasdell…Chess Northern Soul Vol III continues to reflect the huge respect for the famous label, particularly in the UK, where the featured tracks had hallowed status in the clubs that created the Northern Soul genre.
