Putney, VT | A new home for old vinyl: Retired teacher opens record store in Putney. A retired teacher has turned his love of music into a new business in downtown Putney. Next Chapter Records, which offers new and used vinyl records, is now open at 120 Main St. in the former home of Antidote Books, which moved to Brattleboro earlier this year. The store is run by Mitch Harrison, a 56-year-old native of northern New Jersey. For the past 20 years, he’s been teaching science to middle schoolers in Alstead, N.H. Now retired, Harrison said he has already seen a positive response from a couple of “soft openings” on Saturdays earlier this month. In his youth, he said, he frequented record shops with friends, and hosted a radio show during his days at Rutgers University. Nowadays, he still goes to live music events and festivals. His taste lies with music that “blurs the line,” whose exact genre is difficult to describe.
Whitefish, MT | New on the block: Slow Burn Records opens on Spokane Ave: For several years, Mike and Dyan Colby often traveled from Texas to spend time in Whitefish and enjoy the rhythm of mountain living. Now they own the only record store in town, Slow Burn Records. The store’s Director of Operations, Madde Borg, explained that when the Colbys were in town, Dyan would stop into Spanky and Gus’s — the funky record store that was previously on Spokane Avenue next to Jersey Boys Pizza. She enjoyed bringing her kids, telling them about music and sharing the thrill of looking for unique finds. When she learned Spanky was closing her store, Dyan approached Mike with the idea of buying it; they purchased the store at the beginning of 2021 and it opened this April. Currently, the store is full of Spanky’s collection, about 3,000 albums, but Borg says the plan is to curate their own collection to best suit the desires of the community.
Greenfield, WI | The Exclusive Company Greenfield Location To Become Volta Records: The Exclusive Company is thrilled to announce our Greenfield location will remain a “Locally Owned Independent Record Store”. On July 2, the store name will change to Volta Records. The location, staff, hours, great service, and selection will stay the same. For the past 30 years at this location, The Exclusive Company has done our best to provide the South Side and all of Milwaukee with a record store you can be proud of and call your own. We are certain that Volta Records will carry on with the same values and dedication to music that you have come to enjoy and expect. The Exclusive Company’s final day of business at the Greenfield location will be June 29. The store will be closed on June 30 and July 1 as part of the transition. On Saturday, July 2 Volta Records will open for business. To all of our loyal customers, we say thank you for your support. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Chicago, IL | Pravda Records goes the distance: Beginning with Napster and continuing through Spotify, the nemeses of independent record labels have been legion over the past few decades. The deaths of brick-and-mortar retail chains, including Tower and Borders, have made releasing new music even more of an uphill climb. Yet Pravda Records has weathered it all and continues to thrive. The Chicago label—which toasts its 38th year with a two-day festival, June 24 and 25, at Sketchbook Brewing in Skokie—has survived shifting public tastes, the rise of online piracy, several changes in dominant format, and the collapse of music sales in physical media. Even in the years since COVID-19 hit the U.S. in early 2020, the label has prospered, releasing a string of albums from legacy Chicago artists, among them Smoking Popes front man Josh Caterer, rock band the Handcuffs, retro-pop quintet the Flat Five, power-pop band the Hushdrops, singer-songwriter Steve Dawson, and power trio Sunshine Boys. Those records have all been modest hits—Goodman says each sold more than 1,000 copies. The label’s total sales increased about 50%.
Wooden you like to hear a CNC-cut phonograph record: Say what you will about [Thomas Edison], but it’s hard to deny the genius of his self-proclaimed personal favorite invention: the phonograph. Capturing sound as physical patterns on a malleable medium was truly revolutionary, and the basic technology that served as the primary medium of recorded sound for more than a century and built several major industries is still alive and kicking today. With so much technological history behind it, what’s the aspiring inventor to do when the urge to spin your own phonograph records strikes? Easy — cut them from wood with a CNC router. At least that’s how [alnwlsn] rolled after the “one-percent inspiration” hit him while cutting a PCB with his router. Reasoning that the tracks on the copper were probably about as fine as the groove on a record, he came up with some math to describe a fine-pitch spiral groove and overlay data from a sound file, and turn the whole thing into G-code.
Roraima, BR | Meeting brings together vinyl lovers in Roraima: With the objective of promoting vinyl records and socializing among their collectors and also among music lovers in general, the 1st Meeting of Vinyl Lovers of the State of Roraima will be promoted, which will gather the public during the afternoon to listen to good music. . The proposal is to rescue the use of LPs, in addition to creating an opportunity for exchanging copies. During the meeting, the public will be able to listen to music ranging from classical to punk rock. Cultural agent and photographer Orib Ziedson is the organizer of the event, he has been collecting the records for many years. “The idea of holding this meeting has been hammering in my head for some time. We have in Boa Vista a considerable number of vinyl collectors and lovers, during conversations with colleagues and friends who also collect, Macelêza from Raul Roraima Rock Club, Ivo Almada and Professor Marcondes, we realized that this desire to bring the tribe together is mutual,” he said.
