Hazard, KY | Queen City Records in Hazard celebrates grand opening with ribbon cutting event: Several community leaders came out to celebrate Queen City Records for its grand opening ribbon cutting event on Monday, December 13. The record store first opened its doors in November, but it wasn’t until now that the owners have had the chance to host an official grand opening. “We’re so happy to be here and very happy to see that everybody’s excited to see us here and to help us out in any way that they can, even in here buying records themselves,” said Queen City Records co-owner and manager, Mary Jo Everidge. Queen City Records is open Monday through Friday from noon to 7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Miami, FL: Vinyl Heaven: The Seven Best Record Stores In Miami: Our favorite record stores in Miami. We know there are still many music aficionados out there who cherish the idea of buying and holding a physical piece of music. For this reason, we wanted to point Miami locals in the right direction of where to get their hands on the most diverse selection of records possible. Here’s a list of our seven favorite record stores in Miami. Museo Del Disco: You can find just about anything you’re looking for at Museo Del Disco, from rock and pop to Latin and electronic dance music. Located just west of Coral Gables in Coral Terrace, Museo Del Disco is home to renowned records from artists like Adele, Queen, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd, The Eagles, and Nirvana…
Houston, TX | Houston record shop owner remembers 50-year friendship with legendary singer Vicente Fernández: The Memo Record shop located in Houston’s East End may be breaking records with CDs and DVDs lining the walls. “This is the last historic Houston record store,” said Memo Villarreal, owner of the shop. “I live more here than my house.” For Villarreal, the store is home to some of his favorite memories. “Before the record shop, I was a promoter,” he said. Villarreal said in the 60′s he booked famed Mexican Ranchera singer Vicente Fernández for his first show in Houston. By the sixth show, he said he and Fernández had become good friends. “I said, ‘Vicente, we had it so loud,’” he recalled. “This is the first time in the six times you come to Houston. He gave me something that I can remember that day.” Villarreal was gifted Fernández’s signature charro outfits — just one of his many staples as a performer. “Once he stepped on stage, everyone was standing up, applauding, singing, and sometimes crying to the songs,” Marian Escamilla said.
Saginaw, MI | See what businesses opened or closed in 2021 in Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties: Relocated: Electric Kitsch. After nearly a decade in downtown Bay City, Electric Kitsch moved to the city’s South End. Co-owners Jessica McQuarter and Jordan Pries relocated their business to 2106 Kosciuszko (22nd St.), where they have nearly three times the retail space and plans to expand their product offerings. “The building has quite a lot of history,” McQuarter said, noting that it was formerly Joe’s Appliance. Electric Kitsch first opened at 917 Washington Ave. in downtown Bay City in June 2012. That location closed on March 15 with plans to reopen at the new location April 1. “We mostly sell new and used vinyl records. Lately, we’ve really gotten into used CDs and cassettes, pretty much all physical music media. Not a lot of stores are selling it anymore, besides record stores,” McQuarter said.
Toronto, CA | Jagmeet Singh Picked Up a Copy of Mustafa’s ‘When Smoke Rises’ at Toronto’s Sonic Boom: The NDP leader was seen masked-up in the Spadina Avenue record store earlier. Forever the savant of all things hip (and Hip-Flip) NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has proven he’s keeping up with the year’s best Canadian music releases, appearing inside Toronto’s Sonic Boom Music for a quick photo-op with a copy of Mustafa’s excellent 2021 album When Smoke Rises. The poet-turned-musician’s debut record, which landed among Exclaim!’s 50 Best Albums of 2021 and this year’s Polaris Music Prize’s short list, is seen cradled in Singh’s arms as the masked politician flips through the record store’s LPs. According to Sonic, Singh ended up buying the record. No telling what else he may have left with, but if the gifts he recently received from national treasure and human serviette Nardwuar — including Canadian hip-hop treats, Rascalz’s Northern Touch and Maestro Fresh Wes’ Let Your Backbone Slide — are anything to base his tastes on, it’s safe to guess he left the store with a stack of new wax.
Wales, UK | Christmas gift of rare John Lennon record for three Welsh shops: Three record shops in Wales have been gifted one of 50 rare records by John Lennon’s family to spread “Christmas cheer.” Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon have given away the 12-inch vinyl acetates to charities and record shops in the UK. It marks the 50th anniversary of Lennon’s festive classic Happy Xmas (War is Over). Kellys Records and Spillers in Cardiff and Diverse Vinyl in Newport have each received a record. The owner of Kellys Records, Alan Parkins, said the anniversary disc arrived “out of the blue with a nice letter from Sean Lennon.” The record’s launch took place at Tim Burgess’ Vinyl Adventures Record Fair in Manchester on 5 December. Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Mr Parkins said: “I think Tim Burgess may have been involved. He’s a singer with the Charlatans. “He loves our shop and he’s made a fantastic reference to our shop in one of his books. That’s the only link that we can think about.”
Major record labels sign pact to decarbonise their businesses: Organisers say ‘hundreds more’ global companies could sign up to the new Music Climate Pact by June. A raft of major and independent record labels have pledged to decarbonise their businesses and “inspire transformational action on the climate crisis.” The UK’s three biggest music companies – Universal, Warner and Sony – and respected smaller groups such as Beggars, BMG, Warp and Ninja Tune have signed up to the pact. Organised by the Association of Independent Music (AIM) in collaboration with record labels association the BPI, the pact hopes to address the music industry’s “biggest environmental impacts” in an “efficient and collaborative” manner. Although it is being launched out of the UK, organisers say “hundreds more” global companies are expected to sign up by June. The 13 initial signatories will join either the Science Based Targets initiative or the United Nations-backed SME Climate Commitment by February – and work with experts to set and reach targets on greenhouse gas emissions.
