Youngstown, OH | Local record store owner mourns Foo Fighters drummer: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died. Local connections to the band are mourning the loss. The band was scheduled to play in Bogota, Columbia, Friday. Seven years ago, the Foo Fighters played at Record Connection in Niles for Record Store Day. Owner Jeffrey Burke said they’ve seen him along the way at concerts he’s been invited to. “I got the call last night. I had already gone to bed, actually, a friend of mine called at about 11:19 last night and shocking news. I couldn’t get back to bed for quite a while,” Burke said. Burke remembers Hawkins as a very approachable and nice guy. He says his loss will be felt throughout the entire community and world.
Nashville, TN | Ernest Tubb Record Shop entangled in recent legal battle: The current and former owners of Ernest Tubb Record Shop were engaged in a legal battle before the recent jointly made announcement of its impending closure this spring. As first reported by the Nashville Business Journal, Davidson County Circuit Court documents filed in the summer of 2021 outlined allegations including breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and conversion made through the conservatorship of previous owner David McCormick against current business owners JesseLee Jones and Emily Ann Cousins regarding events leading up to and during the sale of the 417 Broadway property in August 2020. The original civil complaint made by McCormick’s conservatorship, headed by his brother Phillip since July 2021, alleged Jones and Cousins took advantage of McCormick’s deteriorating mental health, brought on by a diagnosed mental illness, and their friendship for personal benefit on occasions.
Cedar Falls, IA | Vinyl Cup Records, RAYGUN officially open their doors in Cedar Falls: Two new stores opened their doors on Main Street in Cedar Falls on Friday. Vinyl Cup Records, a music record store, and RAYGUN shirts, a popular t-shirt store in Iowa, celebrated their grand openings on Friday. The two stores share the building in the 200 block of Main Street Vinyl Cup Records. RAYGUN owns stores in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Chicago, Kansas City, Des Moines, and Omaha. “I never considered coming to Cedar Falls until Raygun reached out so that they had a location. We partnered with them in Omaha with the same type of layout, so we decided that it was worth looking into,” Vinyl Cup Owner Luke Dickens said. “I researched and realized that Cedar Falls Waterloo area didn’t have this type of experience for the record collectors.” Dickens started Vinyl Cup Records in his basement four years ago, with two crates of records and a Facebook group with 40 people.
Milwaukee, WI | The Exclusive Company on Farwell will close, be replaced with new record store, Lilliput Records: The Milwaukee location of The Exclusive Company, 1669 N Farwell Ave., will close “in the next few months.” The news was announced Friday night on the record store’s Facebook page. “It is with immense sadness that we share The Exclusive Company on Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee will be closing at a yet to be determined date in the next few months,” reads the message. “We have loved every minute of serving the East Side community and thank you endlessly for the support you have given The Exclusive Company at this location over the past 30 years.” Happily, a new record store will take Exclusive’s place, Lilliput Records. The new store will be run by current Exclusive managers Tanner Musgrove and Brian Kirk. “With every ending comes a new beginning,” continues the message. “We are excited to welcome Lilliput Records as the newest record store to Milwaukee. The new owners may look a little familiar, as they have been with the Exclusive Company for 17 years. The current managers, and new owners of the Farwell Ave. location, will continue to bring the East Side the selection, variety and quality of music our loyal customers deserve and expect. Same location, same model, new name, new owners. Welcome Lilliput Records.”
Chesterfield, UK | Boost for music fans in Chesterfield as new record store opens its doors: A Chesterfield man has given local music fans a boost after opening the town’s newest record store. Andrew Pitchford opened Talk of the Grapevinyl earlier this month. He said that he had built experience selling records online for just over three years, but decided that it was time to take the plunge and open his own store. “I set up a website to sell records just over three years ago, and I’ve done the monthly record fairs at Chesterfield Market. “I thought the record shop was the next step, but because of Covid and everything, that got delayed. I just thought if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.” While Talk of the Grapevinyl will offer something to satisfy every customer, Andrew said that their focus is going to be on older, second-hand records. “I know Maria at Tallbird Records, and I know she does a lot of new vinyl. I’m trying to do a lot more of the older, second hand stuff, with a bit of new vinyl as well.”
Amsterdam, NL | Amsterdam record store Rush Hour opens at new location: The store is now on Spuistraat 110, just three doors down from the old spot. Amsterdam record shop Rush Hour opened at a new location over the weekend. After around six years at the previous address, the store has moved three doors down to Spuistraat 110. According to a post on Instagram, the team received an offer they “could not refuse.” The shop is now split across two floors. Speaking to Resident Advisor, cofounder Antal said the main floor has more of a “living room feel” than before, while the basement will mostly be used during busy periods. “It was a dream to hold a basement for other activities and now we realized it,” he said. Antal also said the team hadn’t planned to move, but, due to property developments in the area, the chance arose to secure “at least another decade in the Spuistraat.” Rush Hour turns 25 this year.
Nantwich, UK | Nantwich shop to host town’s first “Record Store Day” A record store in Nantwich is hosting the town’s first Record Store Day next month, writes Courtney Davies. Applestump Records, on Barker Street, will participate in the annual national day on April 23. It is the 15th year of Record Store Day which is designed to promote independent record shops and allow customers to get their hands on limited titles. Steve Cook has taken part in Record Store Day previously as a customer. But this time he is hosting it at Applestump records. He said: “It was an initiative put together by Entertainment Retailers Association and they put on this day, and all the record labels release very limited-edition pressings of vinyl records, different colours and different formats that you can only buy on that day in a record shop. “The idea was people would all go to a record shop to get these records and it would put money in the tills of little independent record stores.”
Los Angeles, CA | Landlord serves eviction notice to Russian owners of LA record shop, Stellar Remnant: “We believe we became a targeted individuals” The Russian owners of LA independent record store Stellar Remnant, have been served with a 30-day eviction notice from their landlord, reports Resident Advisor. The record shop announced this news on social media last week which read: “As the violence escalates in Ukraine so is hatred towards Russian-speaking immigrants around the globe, we believe we became targeted individuals and business,” read the post. “With our cry out for love we still receive threats and hate and people asking us to take down and not to sell any Russian artists regardless of their political views, just by simply being or associated with Russia.” Their statement adds: “We are absolutely devastated and demoralized. Our last day will be March 31st.” Previously, the store had announced that they would be holding a vinyl auction to raise funds for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. “Growing up in the Soviet Union I would never have imagined the war between our Ukrainian brothers and sisters,” one of their social media posts reads.
Farnham, UK | Vic’s Music Matters: Farnham record store owner Andy Hibberd to retire: Andy Hibberd of 101 Collectors Records in Farnham is retiring, with his last day in the shop being Saturday, April 2. I wish you well, Andy, and thanks for your support of local live music. He has literally been a shop window for local gigs, festivals and venues. Andy is a walking musical encyclopaedia, a vinyl champion and has been a face around the town for the past 20 years – enjoy your retirement. The shop will continue under the ownership of Richard Stone, who some may have met on record store days and the occasional Saturday. Best wishes to him and his assistant Kenny.
Bed-Stuy, NY | Beloved Bed-Stuy Record Store, ‘Halsey & Lewis’ Returns, This Time on Madison and Marcus Garvey: Halsey & Lewis sells eclectic books, records, candles, and café fare, and it will soon throw a range of free community events. Last summer, Martin Brewer’s landlord gave him one week’s notice to move his iconic record shop out of the storefront he’d occupied for almost five years. After months of searching for its new home, Halsey and Lewis has found its groove once again in Bed-Stuy, this time on Madison Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. It’s clear why Halsey and Lewis, named for the intersection it once occupied, has thrived all these years — Brewer’s shop, which he runs with co-owner Sonya Farrell, is inviting, laidback and full of eclectic art books, records and candles. The shop also serves typical coffee house drinks, which, combined with the palo santo or dried sage that is usually burning, gives the store its signature aroma.
Halifax, CA | Halifax Record Store Says More People Are Buying CDs, Records: Ian Fraser owns Obsolete Records and he says new people come into his ironically named shop every week. Fraser says vinyl and CDs offer something digital media can’t. “With downloading, with streaming, it made everything so easy, but also, as we see with the Spotify fallout where all of a sudden, you can’t stream Neil Young or Joni Mitchell anymore,” he says. “I could just buy a physical copy and literally have that forever. No one is going to take that away from me.” Fraser says streaming is still king but many people still want to own physical copies of their favorite album. Vinyl sales have been growing for over 15 years. CD sales, meanwhile, are up this year for the first time in almost two decades. Shipments in the U.S. rose roughly $32-million to $47-million in 2021. Fraser says collecting is another big part of the boost in popularity for hard copies, digital music libraries don’t quite scratch that collector’s itch.
Cincinnati, OH | Marilyn Kirby, founder of Everybody’s Records, friend of music lovers, died Monday: Marilyn Kirby, the founder of Everybody’s Records, the much-revered record store in Pleasant Ridge, died Monday. She was 71. A single mom, Kirby opened Everybody’s Records in 1978 because she loved music. The store, which brings in visitors worldwide, sells used and new music in a vast array of genres. Her bold career choice, made more than 40 years ago and in the male-dominated music industry, was no easy task. But she made it work, in short order tripling the store’s size. Today, the store is so large that the current shop has two storefronts. What made it work, says anyone you ask, was Kirby, who was friendly and helpful and made sure her employees were as well. So well-loved as an employer, many of the current employees have been with Kirby for more than a decade.
Augusta, GA | Local record store looks to archive Augusta band posters: Georgia-based magazine Chunklet is looking to scan Augusta band posters from all decades and genres of music. All the posters will be registered in the state archives, with credit given to the designers. Local production company Alma Presents is helping organize the project. We caught up with the organization’s owner, Coco Rubio, at Grantsky Records. “It’s a collection of posters and fliers that we want to do for a writer named Henry Owings,” he said. “Henry did a book about Athens, Georgia, and their music scene there, and a collection of fliers and posters. In his new book, he’s going to expand it, and he’s going to do the whole state of Georgia.” If you’re interested in taking part, you can swing by Grantski Records in downtown Augusta on March 27 with one of your old band posters or fliers.
Toronto, CA | Here’s what’s replacing a beloved Toronto record store: A popular Toronto record store that closed permanently about a year ago is being replaced by something unexpected. While Soundscapes may have been known for selling records by artists from Sub Pop for years, their space in Toronto is now becoming a sub shop. Belly Buster Submarines now has signage up under the iconic old Soundscapes sign in Little Italy, reading “coming soon.” The restaurant chain posted news of the new location to their social media, with most people commenting positively and one person commenting “RIP Soundscapes.” Though it may be a huge shift for the storefront, at least the sandwich shop is pretty much equally iconic in this city. While Soundscapes may have opened back in 1999, Belly Buster has been around since 1974. They’re known for their subs “stacked” with lots of cold cuts as well as their legendary turkey bacon sandwiches.
Franklin, OH | New area vintage record store opens: ‘A passion that got out of hand’ While many people access their music via computer, satellite radio, tablet or smartphone, there’s a new store in Franklin that features vintage vinyl records. DoublePlay Records & Retro opened its doors in mid-January at 351 S. Main St. and features vintage vinyl albums, CDs and 45s in nearly every music genre, said co-owner Traci Huff. She and her husband David have been in the business for more than 20 years and previously leased space at the Flea Market on Conover Drive in Franklin and at the Peddlers Mall in Lebanon. “Record collecting is a passion for my husband,” Traci Huff said. “It was his passion that got out of hand.” The couple met while students at Franklin High School. David was a member of the class of 1986, and Traci was a member of the class of 1988. They married after high school and soon, David’s record collecting passion became a business on the side as they continue to work their regular jobs. She said they started buying things to sell for extra income.
UK | Record Store Day collaborates with Rega on limited edition turntable: Marking the event’s 15th anniversary. Record Store Day is releasing a collaborative turntable with Rega, to coincide with this year’s RSD on 23 April 2022. Handmade in the UK, the turntable is based on the Rega Planar 1, and features a RB110 precision tonearm and pre-installed Rega Carbon cartridge. In celebration of 15 years of RSD, it is also adorned with a RSD mat, badge, and silkscreen logo. Limited to 500 units, the limited edition turntable will retail for £299, and will only be available on this year’s RSD, 23rd April 2022.
