Washington, DC | Tiny Vinyl Shop opening in the old City Bikes space will share the space with Upshift Workshop! Last week we broke the exciting news that Tiny Vinyl Shop is opening in the old City Bikes space in Adams Morgan. But that’s not all that’s coming to the space: “The space will be split 50-50 with Tiny Vinyl Shop and Upshift Workshop – an education-focused bike shop, supporting all who ride their bikes for transportation in DC! We will have a small service area and retail floor with curated, colorful bike wares. We’re super excited to be bringing a bike shop back to the neighborhood! Upshift has been a bike-powered mobile repair service for the last 4 years, offering tune-ups, flat fixes, learn to ride lessons, and bike mechanics clinics all across DC.” Stay tuned.
San Francisco, CA | Tunnel Records Serves Up Tunes and Community to the West Side: The idea of playing music on a vinyl record seems to be a concept of the past. Discovering an old record in your basement feels like you have unearthed an ancient artifact. But if you look at worldwide statistics, record sales are booming. In 2023 alone, more than 40 million vinyl records were sold, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This vinyl revival can be seen in San Francisco as well, a city boasting almost 20 record stores scattered throughout the area. Tunnel Records is one of these success stories. A small vinyl boutique on Taraval Street near 46th Avenue, it is the archetypal neighborhood record store. Owner 46-year-old Ben Wintroub opened the Taraval location more than seven years ago. It is named for the tunnels that once led to the beach under the Great Highway. He opened another store last year on Clement Street in the annex next to the 4 Star Theater.
IL | Majority of Illinois music fans are embracing vinyl revolution: The vinyl revolution just proves to Illinois music fans and collectors to never say never because there’s always a chance. Thanks to my dad and uncle, I got into music really early in my life. They were going to concerts and buying new albums when I was a kid. There were always tunes playing in our house and also in the car. It had a huge impact on me. Then I started getting into my own bands. I would save the money from my newspaper delivery route to buy albums. Back in those days, vinyl was king. That’s when I started my collection which continues to grow still today. Other formats came along like cassettes, 8-tracks, and CDs. I kept buying vinyl as long as I could but it was basically wiped out by the compact discs. I hopped on that bandwagon but I always kept my records and turntable. Then digital music and streaming services came along. I appreciate the convenience and ease but I was never a big fan of the sound.
Minneapolis, MN | Scene Makers Q+A: Lucky Cat Records owner puts a new spin on a fabled Minneapolis store site: From corporate life to indie shopkeeper, Michele Swanson opens this weekend in the former home of Oar Folk. Michele Swanson didn’t retire from her longtime HR job at Delta Airlines just to open a record store. She also didn’t want to open just any record store. “I actually never thought about opening a store until this particular space came open,” said Swanson, the new owner of Lucky Cat Records. Opening this weekend on the corner of Lyndale Avenue and 26th Street, Lucky Cat takes over the long-shuttered storefront that used to house Oar Folkjokeopus and Treehouse Records. In its ’70s and ’80s era as “Oar Folk,” the shop was a meeting hub and incubator for legendary bands including the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, the Suburbs and the Jayhawks. All of those local groups happen to be personal favorites of Swanson, a point that becomes obvious when you see all the posters, original artwork and rare album covers that line the walls of the lovingly refurbished space.
Glasgow, UK | Fatboy Slim will perform at Glasgow’s Assai Records: Fatboy Slim will perform at a Glasgow record store just hours before his concert. Assai Records on Sauchiehall Street will welcome the legendary DJ to their venue on Saturday, July 20. The disc jockey, whose real name is Norman Cook, will be joined by SOBSTORY, Hayley Zalassi and Van Damn for an afternoon of performances. The Rockafeller Skank hitmaker will perform from 3pm before he is scheduled to perform his Fatboy Slim Loves Summer show at SWG3 Galvanizers Yard at 7pm. Very limited tickets are available at Assai.co.uk. Assai Records is a popular choice of venue for various artists, as we previously reported that a huge queue of fans waited outside to see The Snuts live. The Scottish band were performing and signing records at the gig in February.
Solvang, CA | New Record Shop Pumps Up the Volume in Solvang: Off the Record Vintage & Vinyl Offers a Gathering Place for Music Fans Across Generations. A new hidden gem opened in Solvang this May, introducing the analog world of records to a younger generation, and appealing to discerning music fans of all ages. Off the Record Vinyl & Vintage is tucked upstairs in the Jensen’s Copenhagen Square building on Alisal Road, where music lovers can thumb through the new and used vinyl, 45s, cassettes, and CDs. An array of vintage and contemporary equipment caters to discerning audiophiles, while the selection of band tees, Hawaiian shirts, and retro bar accessories ensures it’s not a one note spot—there’s treasure-hunting potential for a broad range of interests and curiosities. The concept of the shop, which is co-owned and curated by a local father-and-son duo, Mike and Vince Casey, came about during the pandemic when Mike, a prop master in the film industry, began amassing vintage audio equipment.
Wiltshire, UK | Rare Sex Pistols record expected to sell for £13,000 in Wiltshire: A sought-after vinyl record is expected to sell for around £13,000 in Wiltshire. The special copy of the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen will go under the hammer at Wessex Auction Rooms at 10am on Friday, July 5. It is one of between 13 and 20 A&M records copies that remain after the label dropped the band and destroyed all other copies of the song following controversy in 1977. This has long been considered a “Holy Grail” item and one sold in 2019 for £16,400. The copy up for sale is being sold by a former PA who was allowed to take a handful of records from her drawer when she left the company. She said: “The current single being sold is my last one. “I have been holding onto it for sentimental reasons, but I feel now is the time to part company with it. “I am concerned it might one day go missing or be damaged.”
Madison, WI | In the groove: The Madison Public Library’s growing vinyl collection is an eclectic hit. Guy Hankel remembers the first album he ever bought, which was on vinyl: The Beatles’ 1962–1966, also known as the Red Album, which compiled the hits from the first half of the band’s career. Hankel, 57, a librarian at Madison Public Library, would go on to buy hundreds of other vinyl records in his teens, especially a lot of punk and post-punk bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Pere Ubu, and Echo and the Bunnymen. “I would tape all of my albums so I wouldn’t ruin the condition,” he remembers. “Which has paid off, decades later.” At a time when streaming dominates the music industry, many people are rediscovering (or discovering) the magic of vinyl records. In 2016, Hankel decided it was time to restart the library’s own vinyl collection. “It became clear to me that the resurgence of vinyl was not going to be a fad. It was going to last quite a while,” he says. “Fewer and fewer people had CD players. They aren’t making them for cars anymore. In a community like Madison there are tons of people who like vinyl.”
