Today, Everywhere, At Once: Record Store Day 2022
The past 15 years has been a long, strange trip, indeed. Germinating from a well intentioned idea by a coalition of independent record stores to illuminate their impact on popular culture to harnessing the esteemed responsibility of ushering in a bonafide vinyl resurgence, Record Store Day has become nothing less than a global institution.
Soon after inception, RSD was able to make the lofty (but true) claim that they prompted more traffic to the stores than Christmas before actually becoming a holiday itself! Today, this eagerly anticipated special day- routinely landing on the 3rd Saturday of every April- has a reach that sees the participation of some 1400 independent stores the world over, selling through several hundred special and exclusive titles by thousands of exciting music makers. All this, to say nothing of an adept, safe and successful navigation of the pandemic with RSD Drops.
In addition to reminding you to get out to your local record store this Saturday for all of the worthwhile offerings, we’d like to take a moment to point to some of those folks who are helping us celebrate our 15th year in existence…
On Tuesday, April 19th at 7pm, the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles will play host to a Record Store Day panel event celebrating the anniversary as well as the release of the book, Record Store Day - The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century, by Larry Jaffee. The event is set to feature Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo of Metallica, Linda Perry, and Record Store Day Co-Founder Michael Kurtz, led by Variety’s Chris Willman. The panel is sure to be a vibrant discussion about the history and importance of Record Store Day and will be followed by a special intimate performance from Nilüfer Yanya. Metallica played a major role in the very first Record Store Day, and both the band and its members have been a part of the event ever since, including serving as Record Store Day Ambassadors in 2016, and continuing in 2022 with the release on CD and vinyl of Kirk Hammett’s solo EP, Portals. (Tickets for the event are on sale now, with proceeds benefiting the GRAMMY Museum's Music Education Initiatives.) (Author Larry Jaffee will be spending Record Store Day in a fitting way: signing his book about record stores at Looney Tunes in Long Island.)
Turning attention eastward to NYC, The Official Beer of Record Store Day, Dogfish Head will host a free RSD kickoff event at Brooklyn Bowl on “RSD Eve”, Friday, April 22nd at 6:30pm where Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione will chat with RSD co-founder/organizer Carrie Colliton about all things music and beer, and toast to record stores with a selection of your favorite, and new, off-centered ales. It is indeed a natural fit for a brewery that makes Analog Beer for the Digital Age to be the Official Beer of Record Store Day! The kick-off party will be followed by what’s sure to be an amazing reunion show by Handsome Boy Modeling School, whose album So… How’s Your Girl is part of the special releases in record stores the next day. (The RSD kickoff event is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for the HBMS show, and are on sale now.)
Following a few years of pandemic-required changes and safety precautions, Record Store Day 2022 sees a return of in-store events and celebrations on April 23: Bull Moose Music and RSD co-founder, Chris Brown will welcome the one, the only Bonnie Raitt to their Scarborough, ME location on Record Store Day, Saturday April 23rd, for a one-on-one live interview with Aimsel Ponti from the Portland Press Herald. Bonnie’s latest album, Just Like That, is released on April 22 on CD and vinyl, with a limited edition vinyl version only available at indie record stores. Lucky attendees of the Bull Moose/Bonnie Raitt event will receive a custom poster created for the occasion.
The Exclusive Company’s Milwaukee location will be graced by the presence of Spoon’s Britt Daniel, who comes through for a very special DJ set along with a search for buried treasure and a scavenger hunt through the Exclusive racks for rare Spoon vinyl titles. Sharon Van Etten, whose new album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong comes to record stores on May 6, also takes a DJ turn, at Atlanta’s Criminal Records, which also hosts a live performance from Old Crow Medicine Show, sure to include songs from their new album Paint This Town.
Across Atlanta, you can expect DBS Sounds to play host to none other than Goodie Mob and Organized Noize, the former signing their Survival Kit double LP title and the latter signing their custom-colored 12” vinyl EP. In Ventura, California, Salzer’s hosts a group that well represents the diversity of music at a record store: Norwood Fisher (Fishbone), Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), Scott Page (Pink Floyd), and Kenny Olson (Kid Rock) who will be stopping by on Record Store Day to promote Think: X, An Exploration of the Music of Pink Floyd, a show playing later that night.
Record Archive in Rochester celebrates RSD Eve as only their combined record store/lounge space can, with a Friday night visit from guitarist Neil Giraldo (Pat Benatar Band) for a Q&A and whiskey tasting session! Several stores continue the fun throughout Sunday as well, including The Record Exchange in Boise, hosting Curtis Stigers for a set at his favorite record store on Sunday. Plenty of record stores across the country are choosing to celebrate with their nearest and dearest local and regional bands, including Indianapolis’ Indy CD & Vinyl, closing out Record Store Day weekend with a day of music to celebrate their own anniversary– the 20th.
Record Store Day is “on the air” as well this week, as a special deluxe edition of the Record Store Day Podcast with Paul Myers drops on Tuesday, April 19 with an extended interview lineup of RSD-related guests including Ronnie Barnett of The Muffs, Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, Gerard and Bob Mehr, author of Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements, Zev Feldman, “The Jazz Detective”, Terry Cole of Colemine Records/Plaid Room Records on their Delvon Lamarr Organ release (recorded on a Record Store Day, released on a Record Store Day!), Lolo Reskin of Sweat Records (who is partnering with Dogfish Head for a special Sweat Stout brew, a Miami blowout and a release on her own in-house label) and more RSD special guests. The Record Store Day Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts!
And the aforementioned Carrie Colliton hosts a Handpicked Record Store Day Playlist for SiriusXM’s Volume Channel (CH 106) on Air and On Demand, airing Saturday at 9 AM, Noon 6 PM EDT and On Demand on the SXM App. You can, of course, create your own handpicked list of the special limited edition titles that most catch your interest, at recordstoreday.com website where the List is available as a downloadable PDF and a website with information and artwork on each title along with a notation of which titles will be released on April 23, or as part of the #RSDDrop date on June 18.
Head into your local Record Store Day participating independent record store and see for yourself. In addition to some incredible titles for 2022, the 15th anniversary year will be a party heard round the world.
About Record Store Day
Record Store Day, the organization, is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and promotes independent record stores year-round with events, special releases and other fun things.
Record Store Day, the global celebration of the culture of the record store, takes place annually. Record Store Day 2022 is April 23.
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