Popular music consumption may be driven by digital streaming and downloads of particular tracks, but for St. Charles’ Bob Evans, 63, there’s nothing like a turntable and having a needle trace some vinyl.
“It just sounds better,” Evans said matter-of-factly. “I mean, I think there are a few reasons. It sounds better and two, it really is a more tactile and possession-related experience than having a digital download. You have a physical copy of something. You can hold it, move it around. It’s just not the same as the digital experience.”
Evans and others like him were in their sonic glory Saturday as this year’s Record Store Day was celebrated around the world. The annual music collectors’ event was launched back in 2008 to promote independent record store owners and “the unique culture” the stores create in their communities.
For years, the event’s format was to offer limited-edition releases of vinyl on a single day which last year gave way to spreading so-called “drop days” out to three different release dates.
This year, dates have been pared back to two including June 12 and again next month on July 17.
Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day, spoke from his home in Bozeman, Montana, before Saturday’s drop day and said the third change in format in as many years was still driven by changes due to COVID-19, specifically on manufacturing.
“We have about 400 unique releases which is on par with what we usually have, but we went with two days because of the echo effect of the pandemic. It’s really not so much about the vaccine and the effect on the stores but the impact on the vinyl manufacturing plants,” Kurtz said. “They are really struggling because of less shifts than they had before and problems with shifting product from overseas. We got in front of that and created two drops for records.”
Kurtz believe music fans “found solace in vinyl” during the pandemic and like Evans agrees that “people want that personal experience that vinyl does provide.”
Steve Warrenfeltz, 69, of Aurora, the owner of Kiss the Sky record store in Batavia, understands there is a culture which in past years he has nurtured by offering coffee and breakfast as well as an open mic experience before opening his store for Record Store Day. For the second year, he was offering a lottery to make the shopping experience more convenient.
“There was a coolness to people coming hours earlier and camping out to be the first in line for releases, but I don’t have to come down and open my store at 4 a.m. and I don’t think my customers miss it either,” Warrenfeltz said. “Who is missing the waiting is the younger, diehard collector of vinyl.”
During the pandemic, Warrenfeltz said a new customer demographic began to emerge.
“When our store reopened in June last year through October there was a significant increase in kids 12 through 16 coming into the store,” he said. “Vinyl is the dominant hard format – it’s been around 100 years – it ebbs and flows, but it’s never gone away.”
Collectors filled the parking area before Kiss the Sky opened at 8 a.m. Saturday for the event.
Jason Reardon of Aurora won the store lottery and was first to select the records of his choice. He said he “has been collecting vinyl for a few years” and described this year’s two-day format as “cool.”
“It kind of spreads everything out a bit for safety sake and it also gives your wallet a break,” he said.
David Jones of Geneva was third in the lottery and said he has been into vinyl for a quarter century.
“I think the amount of releases this year is a good mix and the last couple years there were like 10 essential records there I really needed and this year it’s like four or five so I’ll save some money,” Jones said.
Beth Evans of Chicago said she got into vinyl as a result “of inheriting about 50 records from my parents.”
Despite living in the digital age, Evans said her affinity for vinyl “is about the sound quality in some of them.”
“The sound on some is just phenomenal and I feel the sound on streaming is kind of compressed sometimes,” she said. “I feel you get the full scope of the album when you’re sitting there between two speakers. I like it because it’s not connected to any social media and your friends aren’t looking at what you’re listening to. It’s just sitting there with the music and taking it in.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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