There’s no better day than Saturday to start vinyl collecting and reveling in local music as West Michigan once again joins the national Record Store Day celebration. Schedules, details at Local Spins.
Calling all audiophiles: It’s that special time of year again when record aficionados can wallow in the joys of Record Store Day.
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This Saturday marks the 12th year of Record Store Day hoopla, a celebration dedicated to record culture, record lovers, record makers and most importantly, to all the independently owned record stores across the world.
West Michigan is part of that scene, with shops across the region on Saturday offering exclusive vinyl releases, discounts and prizes, with many also hosting live music and DJs.
As always, Grand Rapids’ Vertigo Music will be bustling from morning to early evening. Vertigo’s Herm Baker is preparing for one of his shop’s busiest days of the year, excited to see all the record enthusiasts and ready to impart his vast knowledge of vinyl to new and old record lovers.
“It’s our job as a record store to educate people on the proper way to play and handle vinyl and what kind of record player they should be using,” Baker said. “It’s also all about supporting the local business and the local scene. For us, it’s a great day and there is a lot of love. Unfortunately, it’s also a day where we see some customers (just) once a year. So, it’d be nice to change that mindset.”
Vertigo Music will be offering refreshments, special vinyl releases and live DJ sets.
Amid the posse of vinyl shops across West Michigan, Grand Rapid’s Dodds Record Shop takes the special day a step beyond, literally, with owner Reverend Charles Preston Smith leading a short, makeshift parade down Bridge Street in mid-afternoon, ending at his store at 808 Bridge St. NW. DJ Tom Shannon and Beaver Xing will fire up entertainment starting at noon.
In Grandville, The Corner Record Shop has stacked cast of musicians coming in to perform starting at 11:30 a.m., including Brian The Bold, Stellar, GR Groove, Tanner J Burns, Code West, Feeding Grizzlies and Shade 55.
Kalamazoo’s Satellite Records will have a bevy of DJs — Turtle The DJ, Mostefanietly, DJ Status, Peach Pit, DJ Fugitive Alien, Useless Eater, MJ Epperson and E. Jordan — with the first 50 people in line awarded prizes that range from certificates to record store oddities. Green Light Music in Kalamazoo will also fill the day with DJs.
Record Store Day is about more than just selling vinyl and various record items. As esoteric as some may believe record browsing is, it’s also a time and place for a social experience.
There’s a magical quality when buying a record physically at a shop versus buying music digitally. Being able to hold something solid, feeling the album covers on your fingertips is something that you can’t get from just clicking a mouse. Record Store Day is an event for like-minded people, but also a way to introduce new audiences to the power of vinyl.
More information on Record Store Day, including details about special releases and participating stores, can be found at https://recordstoreday.com.
Revisit Local Spins’ coverage of Record Store Day 2018.
RECORD STORE DAY 2019 LINEUP
Dodds Record Shop, 808 Bridge St. NW, Grand Rapids, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Noon – DJ Tom Shannon
1 p.m. – Beaver Xing
3 p.m. – Record Store Day Parade
The Corner Record Shop, 3562 Chicago Dr. SW, Grandville, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
11:30 a.m. — Brian The Bold
Noon – Stellar
1 p.m. – GR Groove
2 p.m. – Tanner J Burns
3 p.m. – Code West
4 p.m. – Feeding Grizzlies
5 p.m. – Shade 55
Vertigo Music, 129 S. Division Ave., Grand Rapids, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
DJ sets throughout the day. A list will be announced soon.
Schuler Books, 2660 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Satellite Records, 808 S. Westnedge Ave., Kalamazoo, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
9 a.m. — Turtle The DJ
10 a.m. — Mostefanietly
11 a.m. — DJ Status
Noon — Peach Pit
1 p.m. — DJ Fugitive Alien
2 p.m. — Useless Eater
3 p.m. — MJ Epperson
4 p.m. –E. Jordan
Green Light Music, 4717 W. KL Ave., Kalamazoo, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
DJ sets throughout the day.
The Retro Room, 102 W. Superior St., Wayland, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
The Full Circle, 212 College Ave., Holland, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Off The Record, 1114 Washington Ave., Grand Haven, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Third Coast Vinyl, 1115 Third Street Suite C, Muskegon, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
The Groove Record Shop, 8747 Ferry St., Montague, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Phoenix Records & Boutique, 330 Kalamazoo St., South Haven, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Copyright 2019, Spins on Music LLC