Denver, CO | Colorado Loves Vinyl More Than Any Other State: Coloradans love vinyl more than residents of any other state, according to a new study from ProVape based on google searches. The Centennial State is followed by California, Texas, New York and Nevada. That tracks for us, considering the Mile High City is home to several longstanding record stores, such as Twist & Shout, which has been around for more than thirty years; Wax Trax, a Denver fixture for 47 years that even underwent a restoration project after the pandemic; Angelo’s; and Mutiny Information Cafe. A 14,000-square-foot vinyl pressing plant is also coming to RiNo courtesy of Vinyl Me, Please, a Denver-based record club. VMP hopes the plant will be open to the public in October; it began construction across the street from Mission Ballroom in June. Visitors will be able to take a tour and see how records are made, then shop in the gift store and enjoy their purchases over cocktails in the vinyl listening bar. The plant is also looking to implement a greener process for pressing vinyl by using recycled materials.
Grand Rapids, MI | The Corner Record Shop shutting down iconic Grandville location: It has not been a good year for businesses along Chicago Drive in Grandville. At the end of June, we learned of the closing of the Grandvilla Restaurants. They had been in business for almost 90 years. The owners of The Villa and The Dungeon said that the COVID pandemic took its toll on the business. The owners also added: “It’s been a true blessing to be such a staple in the Grandville area and we will always and forever cherish each and every one of you.” Bad News and Good News for Record Lovers: If you are a lover of old vinyl records you have probably been to The Corner Record Shop in Grandville. It is located just down the street from the now closed Grandvilla Restaurants. First the bad news… The Corner Record Shop made an announcement on social media Tuesday, August 2nd that they will soon be closing down their Grandville location at 3562 Chicago Drive. Now the good news… The Corner Record Shop is not closing down its business for good. Instead, they are relocating just a mile from the Chicago Drive location. The new home will be in the Oakestown Mall at 2982 28th St. SW.
Richie Furay picks the albums and music that changed his life: The former Buffalo Springfield/Poco guitarist shares the music that made him the singer-songwriter he is today. If any artist could be said to have influenced the course of modern Americana, then suffice it to say that Richie Furay would be at the top of that list. His role in founding what arguably became America’s finest band of all time, the Buffalo Springfield, and then, following its breakup, the group that would establish an enduring template for country rock, the outfit humbly known as Poco, continues to ensure his status as one of music’s most influential icons. It’s appropriate, then, that his new album, In the Country, finds him going back and revisiting a dozen classic country songs and putting his indelible mark on each. Some could be considered standards — “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Walking In Memphis,” among them — while others, like his list of Top 10 albums, represent songs that left an imprint on both his life and his career.
Rapper’s delight: the record collection of DJ Kool Herc: The legendary DJ and Father of Hip-Hop’s catalogue contains foundational elements of the modern American musical canon. In DJ Kool Herc’s record collection, we see more than the musical interests of the Jamaican-American DJ recognized as the Father of Hip-Hop: these vinyl records are the genre’s essential building blocks. They contain breaks — the portions of the song that Herc would convert to drum loops in his signature ‘merry-go-round’ technique — whose grooves charged the makeshift dancefloors of the Bronx during the earliest hip-hop parties in the 1970s, and are still used today. Like the guitars of Eric Clapton or B.B. King, Herc’s records — on sale at Christie’s from 4-18 August in DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip-Hop — are pieces of American musical history that changed the world’s perception of what music was, what it could be.
Wishbone Ash Announce ‘Living Proof’ (Live Recordings 1976-1980) 10-LP Box Set: The new box set is now available for pre-order. Wishbone Ash achieved considerable success in the 1970s, during which they were among England’s most popular hard rock acts, achieving an incredible eight top 40 albums. Often regarded as one of the premiere UK live acts of the ’70s, they toured considerably throughout this period and into the following decades. Madfish are now proud to present a new 10-LP box set containing five live concerts recorded between 1976 – 1980 from across the globe. Initially appearing on “The Vintage Years” CD box set in 2018, four of the concerts enclosed will be issued on vinyl for the first time, with a newly sourced and previously unreleased recording from the band’s October 1976 run of shows in Nakano Sunplaza, Tokyo on the New England tour, exclusively available within. Featuring the second classic Wishbone Ash line up of Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Laurie Wisefield and Steve Upton, these recordings showcase a band at their live best and firing on all cylinders across four different tours.
Edgy Vertical Vinyl Record Player with Built-In Bluetooth Technology: Turns traditional turntable into edgy Vertical Vinyl Record Player with Bluetooth. This player suspends your disc on its side at a nearly 90-degree angle, it is able to transform 33 and 45 rpm records into works of art-in-motion. As a vertical record player, it is designed with secure clamp and counterweighted arm to make sure you get to enjoy skip-free sound. It emits amazing audio thanks to a precision Audio Technical needle, it is able to deliver warm bass and rich ranges, a quality that makes you fall in love with vinyl record in the first place. Just in case you want to stream your music instead of spin it, use built-in Bluetooth to connect to your phone, tablet, or computer. It brings back vintage vibe yet this Vertical Vinyl Record Player comes with modern technology. Aside from having built-in Bluetooth, the rounded-base provides you with an FM radio and alarm, it has station-present capability as well. When you choose to get the rectangle base, it has a slot to display album artwork in style. The compact 9-inch deep would make this player fits any tight space.
