Chicago, IL | For 40 Years, Black-Owned Out Of The Past Records Has Survived And Thrived On The West Side: Founded by Marie and Charlie Joe Henderson, the shop has endured for four decades on Madison Street. Their granddaughter carries on the family’s legacy amid efforts to revitalize the corridor. Lloyd Johnson has been a regular customer at Out Of The Past Records for the past 20 years. The Near West Side native loves all types of music, but at his favorite record shop in West Garfield Park, he scours the record bins for “dusties”—timeless “oldies but goodies” from ‘70s R&B groups such as The Whispers, Dramatics and Blue Magic, Johnson said. “…Music drives us. Music drives our culture—Black people in general,” Johnson said.
Atlanta, GA | Neighborhood-Oriented, Black-Owned Record Stores Keep Atlanta’s Music Legacy Alive: Music has been said to be a very spiritual thing, especially Black music. The city of Atlanta has had a pulse for music since the early 20th century, thanks to the sounds of Southern gospel, blues and jazz. By the time that the Georgia city became known as the Black Mecca during the 1970s, influential artists like Thomas A. Dorsey, aka the father of gospel, and the Sacred Harp singing tradition came into play. …Home of some of the most influential hip-hop artists and helping to define modern trap music and Southern hip-hop thanks to Atlanta heavy hitters like Future, Lil Baby, Latto, Young Thug, Migos and more, this city continues to be the soundtrack for what is hot.
Guadalajara, MX | Vinyl Weekend Guadalajara arrives with more than 15 exhibitors and free admission. There will be two days with more than 15 exhibitors, buying, selling, and exchanging vinyl records, live DJs, jazz, craft beer, and more. Vinyl Weekend Guadalajara will soon be back to celebrate its tenth edition with more than 15 exhibitors and free admission. Two days of vinyl, music, DJs, craft beer, and vintage culture, the event will take place on February 21 and 22, 2026 , at Vía Libertad from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A family-friendly event that will also be three in one, as Michi Fest and Bazar Stickerismo will also be held at the same location. …Projects such as Velvet Records GDL, Perfecto Miserable Records, Discos Tortuga, Viniles Tapatíos, Panicodiscos, Spin City Records, Oniria Records, Boy Records, among other key players in the local scene, will participate.
Dallas, TX | Where to Find an Actual Vinyl DJ Set in Dallas: For the analog listeners living in this digital world. …We’re not believers in a DJ hierarchy, and we love dance music. But we have to admit, traditional track spinning makes for a really fun set. Analog disc jockeying requires a good ear to match beats per minute and seamlessly transition between tracks. In the ‘80s, before computers completely changed the industry, DJs would mark their records with crayons, noting exactly when to switch tracks. The technique was pioneered by Grandmaster Flash, who also popularized cutting and scratching on tracks, creating elongated, repetitive beats that further paved the way for rap music to emerge. Nowadays, most DJ sets, regardless of skill, look like a lot of button pushing and knob turning. The city still has a collection of DJs kicking it old school, though. Here’s where to catch one of them…
Columbia, SC | Want an escape? Restaurant, vinyl listening lounge opening in West Columbia could do the trick. The high anticipated Ikie Lu Record Club is set to open in West Columbia on Feb. 19 with plans to combine a champagne and cocktail bar, a restaurant and a jazz kissa to create a unique new dining experience in the River District. The restaurant’s opening comes after years of planning by owner Matt Catchpole, who first announced the restaurant would be coming to the former Spanish-language church off of Sunset Boulevard in March 2025. Since then, Catchpole has hosted an occasional event at the space, including a dinner for the 2025 Columbia Food and Wine Festival and a New Year’s event, but he’s mostly focused on creating a food and drink menu and completely reimagining the building with a mid-century modern vibe.
Hackney, UK | Nicola Weetch designs London Fields record bar “to feel lived-in.” Hackney restaurant and listening bar Bambi has been doubled in size with a revamped interior and a custom-made stainless-steel-and-wood wall cabinet for vinyl records. Designer Nicola Weetch led the interior design of the project, which came about after Bambi expanded into an empty venue behind the back wall of its London Fields space. “The design challenge was to make a space that not only worked for music, but also as a restaurant and bar,” Weetch told Dezeen. “The DJ booth in the middle of the room and record wall were essential for the music side of things, but we ensured that we had a large open kitchen and large bar as you walked into the space, so all three aspects were given equal importance in the space.”
Beckley, WV | Traveling WV: Burm Booksellers. While the printed word has taken a hit in recent years with the advent of Kindles, tablets and even downloadable audio books, there’s a couple in Beckley who are keeping actual books in the mainstream and they are are thriving. Retired attorney Cheryl Burm and her partner John Cavanaugh moved from Florida with the dream of opening their own bookstore. That dream is now a reality inside a renovated building that houses Burm Booksellers. …Speaking of music, Burm Booksellers also offers a vast vintage vinyl record section where every conceivable genre is represented. “It goes as far back as Edison and shellac records which are a quarter-inch thick single song records, all the way up to contemporary artists depending on how you define contemporary.” Cavanagh said.
Does Vinyl Sound Better Than Streaming And CDs? Testament’s Chuck Billy Weighs In: …When Ridenour noted that “vinyl has a different sound than digital”, Billy concurred. “Yeah, it does to a certain point,” he said. “I would say the earlier records, like our first couple of records, when we were mixing those records, we were actually burning them to vinyl to listen to them, ’cause that’s what we were putting out back then. So you were actually mixing records to sound correctly through the turntable, where down the road when bands or labels were just taking CDs, albums made for CD quality, transfer them right to digital without really EQing them properly and making them correctly, don’t transfer the same. ‘Cause I could hear some records I put on that sound really thin still, that don’t have that warm feeling like a record from 1980 or before that has that really warm feeling.”
Los Angeles, CA | VinylCreatives Launches Personalized Vinyl Record Production Service: VinylCreatives today announced the launch of its personalized vinyl record production service. With VinylCreatives, anyone can create a fully personalized vinyl record, complete with custom artwork and music tracks. The service produces the record in as little as 24 hours and ships within 48 hours, with no minimum order required. “Traditionally, custom vinyl records have been expensive, slow, and limited to musicians or bulk orders. This is the problem we solve,” explained John Lewis Elopre, Founder of VinylCreative. “We remove these barriers by allowing individuals, couples, creators, and small brands to turn playlists, original audio, or meaningful recordings into one-off vinyl records with premium packaging.”
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