Sacramento, CA | This Record Store Promises Good Fortune: A profile of Sacramento’s own Delta Breeze Records. Nestled under the tree canopy of downtown Sacramento, Delta Breeze Records is the janky little used record store for the heads who collect classic rock, soul, modern funk and disco, and jazz. While all record stores have a recognizable musk, Delta Breeze’s fragrance in the ground-floor of a 100-year-old Victorian duplex is complemented with the aroma of fortune cookies baking next door. The owners even keep a bowl of cookies by the counter to take. And if “janky” seems like a jab at the store, it’s important to know the term is a badge of honor in Sacramento. Originally established in West Sacramento in September 2014, the owners Ben Johnson and Rick Daprato moved the operation in 2017.
Dallas, TX | You can watch an immersive stage play at Good Records this month: Playwright Bob Bartlett wrote Love and Vinyl as a small-scale romance set in a record store. Its main characters, best friends Bogie and Zane visit their local shop and and “leave with so much more than a stack of vinyl.” Most plays are made for the stage, but why create a set of a local record store when there’s countless shops around the country already built? Our neighborhood favorite Good Records has more character than any theater set could. For the rest of June, you can watch the story of Bogie and Zane unfold around the Alice Cooper and Polyphonic Spree iconography that so memorably coat the walls at Good Records. The residency is presented by Kitchen Dog Theatre and directed by co-artistic director Christopher Carlos. Performances take place at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday until June 23.
Bengaluru, IN | Music experience space coming up on M G Road: Avial, the popular Kerala-based folk-rock band, will be the first to perform at the store at the inauguration on Saturday. A popular music store on M G Road is opening a larger space right next to its original location, which it has occupied for over 40 years. Ram’s Musique, in the Public Utility Building, takes you back in time, with shelves stacked with thousands of vinyl records in sepia-toned sleeves. The new store, named Rams Musique Experience, aims to generate interest in vinyl records and highlight their relevance in current music culture. It is set to open its doors on June 15. Ramachandran, fondly known by his peers and customers as ‘Music Ram’, is launching the establishment with his son Sangeeth Ram. “We wanted to create a space for vinyl record lovers and hobbyists, to come and experience the music and equipment before making a purchase,” says Sangeeth.
Atlanta, GA | Vinyl and Wine Go Hand In Hand at Commune: Atlanta’s newest listening bar spins records with a wine list to match in Avondale Estates. The vibe at Commune, an intimate new wine bar and listening lounge at Olive & Pine in Avondale Estates, mixes the secrecy of a speakeasy with the informality of a friend’s record-lined basement. Patterned quilts line the walls, accompanied by vintage artwork and local designs. The sound system is perfectly tuned and a lack of windows lets you lose yourself in the music as you sink into one of the cognac-colored booths. Listening bars are part of a growing trend of similar destinations popping up nationwide, including here in Atlanta. Victory Coffee in Inman Park transformed into Stereo earlier this year, and later this summer Atlanta DJ Ree de la Vega is expected to open Pisces, a music-driven restaurant at the Sound Table space.
Grand Haven, MI | Loutit Library in Grand Haven opens media center with vinyl records, listening stations and more: The media center includes a vinyl collection ranging from old classics to present-day hits. On June 7 the Loutit Library in Grand Haven hosted a ribbon cutting to open the Brooks Media Center. The media center includes a vinyl collection ranging from old classics to present-day hits, cozy listening station, a new location for public computers and CDs, solo or small group study tables and board games for in-library use. The library’s Board President Burton H. Brooks said the record collection is a unique feature for a public library and that he believes the collection in the new media center is the largest in the West Michigan area. …Visitors to the center can check out albums, along with a record player…
St. Louis, MO | Ric Lewis revels in record player restoration: Ric Lewis will host his first silent auction on Father’s Day June 16, 2024, but sound is what it is all about. Lewis is selling vintage record players from the 1940s through the 70s that he’s painstakingly restored. He hopes to draw an “eclectic” crowd of collectors, buyers and folks like him who have warm memories of younger days listening to 33, 45 and old 78 RPM (revolutions per minute) vinyl records. Lewis, a true enthusiast, insists vinyl records played on portable consoles sound better than digital audio recordings. For Lewis, 73, his hobby stems from a childhood growing up and hanging out with relatives at the John Deshields, Norman E. Owens or John Robinson Housing projects in East St. Louis. He said he didn’t like “cliques” and therefore crafted a world of his liking. “I was an only child and let’s face it, I wasn’t that popular in school,” Lewis said recalling his reclusive childhood. “I was alone, but never lonely.”
Foreigner And Styx Announce Their Tour Companion Album ‘Renegades & Juke Box Heroes’ “Cold As Ice”, “Too Much Time On My Hands”, “Juke Box Hero”, “Renegade” and more! Nothing sounds more like the soundtrack of summer than Styx’s and Foreigner’s biggest hits. Recently announced as inductees to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Foreigner hits the road in June co-headlining the “Renegades & Juke Box Heroes” trek with Styx and special guest John Waite. Adding to the excitement, Styx and Foreigner have announced “Renegades & Juke Box Heroes”, a very special limited-edition companion album, available exclusively at tour stops starting at today’s tour launch in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Van Andel Arena, and at select retail on July 12. This must-have collector’s album, available as a picture disc or in elegant silver vinyl, features both bands’ greatest hits and was mastered for vinyl by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound with lacquers cut by Joe Nino-Hernes.
David Bowie’s Debut Self-Titled Album To Receive Groundbreaking Reissue: B-sides from 1966’s ‘David Bowie,’ including a rare version of ‘Space Oddity,’ will be available on vinyl for the first time. David Bowie’s debut self-titled album is coming to vinyl this summer, and with it, a rare version of his breakthrough hit “Space Oddity.” The 1966 record, originally released just as the London artist began gaining real traction with critics and fans, will be reissued in both CD and vinyl versions on July 26th. Single B-sides from the album—including the special edition of “Space Oddity”—will be available on vinyl for the very first time. The vinyl editions come in cream and green swirl, double green, and green swirl variants, each featuring a different exclusive track from the depths of Bowie’s catalog. On top of reprinting the original Mike Vernon-produced album in full, the new rollout features fourteen additional tracks, a few of which make vinyl debuts.
