“I think my affinity for records really started around the age of 12 when my great aunt gave me her record player and a huge box of old 45s.”
“Although I admittedly wasn’t particularly fond of her musical taste, I quickly fell in love with the ritual of playing records, and before long I was building a collection of my own. I started spending a lot of time in Allentown PA’s Double Decker Records 50 cent room, which was full of classical records that I scooped up by the arm full, since classical recordings are few and far between on streaming services.
As my musical taste evolves, my vinyl collection grows with me. Any time I’m in a city for the day, I make it a priority to stop into a record store and see what gems I can dig up. Thrift stores, yard sales, and antique shops are some of my favorite places to hunt for records I’ve been looking for or discover something new. I support my favorite artists by purchasing their work on vinyl, since the hands-on experience is so much more meaningful and satisfying than streaming.
Currently, some of my favorite records to spin are Rafiq Bhatia’s Breaking English and Daniel Barenboim & The English Chamber Orchestra’s recording of Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta and Divertimento for Strings.
Although I definitely appreciate streaming services for the purpose of learning about new artists and having lots of music accessible to me on the go, vinyl holds a special place in my heart and my routine and reminds me to slow down and enjoy the process of listening.”
—Jacqui Armbruster
“I can’t even begin to explain my love and affection for record stores and just records.”
“Ever since I first got into music, around the time I got my first guitar, record stores have been a fixture of my life and my musical upbringing, particularly Siren Records in Doylestown, PA, and more recently, Double Decker Records in Allentown, PA.
As I got older, I drifted away from CDs (of which I still have many) and found my way to vinyl, the perfect combination of visual, tactile, and aural experiences. I love crate digging for rare, out-of-print gems just as much as I love buying new and unique pressings from my favorite labels.
Records and record stores are such an obsession for me that when I travel I have to make sure I check three boxes…a good coffee shop, a good place to have a beer, and a good record store. If I find all three it’s been a successful trip! When it’s possible, we as a band really love to release our records on vinyl, as we did with our debut. It wasn’t in the cards for Love Letter though we did press super fun flexi-discs of “linger” that we’re equally stoked on. Part of the process of making music for me is thinking about and planning how it’ll fit on a record.
Unfortunately, I don’t remember the first vinyl record I ever bought or when my fixation on vinyl started. Some of my favorites in my collection that I go back to again and again are releases from labels such as International Anthem, Blue Note, and ECM, my small collection of J Dilla solo albums and production credits, and records by my favorite artists like Paul McCartney (Ram and McCartney II), Bill Frisell (Rambler and all the new stuff), Sam Amidon, Stevie Wonder, Grant Green…the list could keep going I guess!
Even in today’s world of streaming I still find myself drawn to records (and CDs too!). To me, something like Spotify or Apple Music is really just a tool to help me discover an artist or an album I want to invest in. The fun really starts when I can get to some of my favorite record stores and look for the music after kind of ‘researching’ it online.”
—Mike Lorenz
Love Letter, the new full-length release from The Witherbees, is in stores now.
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PHOTO: JEAN BROILLET IV
