Arnold, MD | Vintage Vinyl record store coming to Broadneck Peninsula: Brian Hoffman and Sharon Fulton plan to open a vintage record store Feb. 9 in the Severn Commerce Center. They are moving the store, which will still be called Vintage Vinyl by Yesterday’s Fish, from Lewes, Delaware, where it was in The Sands of Time Antique store for five years. In September, the owner closed on very short notice, forcing Hoffman to store 17 double bins of records during the search for a new location. He won’t miss the 88-mile commute from their home in Arnold and is looking forward to establishing the only record store in the Broadneck area. The store is named after a photo of Sharon at age four, fishing rod in hand, attempting to make a catch, and the photo is also their logo. The two met many years ago when both were working for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, he as a substitute teacher and she as a guidance counselor. In their five years of business in Lewes, they stocked up to 12,000 records, and Hoffman praises Fulton’s support.
Hilo, HI | Used book, vinyl store in Hilo reopens after flood: Seeing his inventory of books and vinyl records floating in flood waters from Hurricane Lane last year was a surreal moment for Royce Wilson. But rather than being devastated, the owner of Still Life Books views it more now as the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. More than four months after the storm dumped record rainfall on East Hawaii, and flooded his basement store in downtown Hilo, Wilson is back in business, this time at a smaller storefront on higher ground. That’s giving his loyal customer base reason to celebrate. “This place fills a great void,” said Charles Furoy, a vinyl record collector who lives in Volcano, while visiting the store at 235 Waianuenue Ave. next to Blane’s Drive Inn on Saturday. “When it was closed, there was no place else to go.”
Marquette, MI | NMU Vinyl Record Club looks forward to first sale and show of 2019: The Northern Michigan University Vinyl Record Club is looking forward to hosting its first vinyl show of 2019. Jon Teichman, from the vinyl club, says he’s seeing the popularity of vinyls grow. He says he’s also seeing more people become interested in other former forms of music media, like cassettes, 8-tracks, and more. The Vinyl Record Show takes place Saturday, January 19 at the Whitman Hall Commons on NMU’s campus (on the corner of Norway and Fair Aves.) from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. You can find over 10,000 vinyls [“Vinyls” is not a word. —Ed.] spanning five decades, as well as cassettes, 8-tracks, CDs, posters, shirts, and more. Plus, Teichman says you can bring your own items to swap and trade with others. There will also be live DJs and music as well as video games to play. Admission is free.
Toledo, OH | Vinyl lives on: Streaming music has become the main way people listen to music nowadays, growing to nearly 65 percent of the market in 2017. But as other means of listening to music become passé — digital downloads, CDs, etc. — one familiar format has seen a remarkable comeback and even growth: vinyl records. Though initially dismissed as a fad powered by nostalgia, the revived interest in records has led to a decade of continued growth. After buying fewer than one million LPs in 2007, American consumers purchased more than 14 million records in 2017. With the rise of CDs in the early 1990s, record sales cratered and the medium seemed to be in its death throes. But today, the vinyl record business is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Record stores are cropping up again. Vinyl pressing plants are so slammed with demand for new records that new production facilities are being opened throughout the country. Fans will spend extravagant amounts of money for limited edition pressings.
Phoenix, AZ | The Mississippi Records Tour Is Coming To Phoenix: Go get your hammers, all you local blues hounds, jazzcats, world music lovers, and vinyl fiends: It’s time to smash your piggy banks. The legendary Mississippi Records is coming to town. On Friday, January 11, the Portland, Oregon, record store is swinging by Valley Bar as part of its national tour. Founded by Eric Isaacson and Warren Hill in 2003, Mississippi Records is both a brick-and-mortar shop and a record label. Over the course of their 15 years and counting, they’ve put out over 230 records by artists like Michael Hurley, Dead Moon, and Abner Jay. The label specializes in unearthed rarities: They’ve reissued incredible funk, blues, world music, and American soul albums. In addition to being a reliable curator of sonic obscurities, the store has also gained a reputation for its unwavering principles.
Spying Through A Keyhole: David Bowie to release vinyl boxset of nine unreleased recordings. A must-have for all Bowie fans… A vinyl box set that features nine unreleased recordings from David Bowie will arrive later this year. To mark what would have been the late music icon’s 72nd birthday, Parlophone will release ‘Spying Through A Keyhole’ a box set of nine 7″ singles that includes the earliest known versions of the now legendary ‘Space Oddity.’ As for the title of the box-set, it’s taken straight from ‘Love All Around’ – a previously unknown song that was released for the first time last year. Although a specific release date is yet to arrive, you can check out the track-listings in full below, complete with official descriptions of the new offerings.
Elevate your Vinyl with Technics’ Latest Direct Drive Turntable: Technics today unveiled the new SL-1500C Premium Class Direct Drive Turntable System. The SL-1500C inherits the brand’s high-end sound quality concept and adds a host of original Technics technologies, such as a coreless direct drive motor and high-sensitivity tonearm. To simplify the playing of analogue records, the built-in phono EQ connects to a wide variety of devices. The SL-1500C also comes equipped with a high-quality Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge. The SL-1500C is a complete turntable system designed for a wide range of users, including dedicated audio enthusiasts and vinyl record music lovers.
