VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings announces a vinyl reissue of the Peanuts classic, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Featuring nine evocative cues from the Vince Guaraldi Trio, the album has been newly remastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.
In stores July 16 and available for pre-order today, the LP also includes a special bonus: eight collectible baseball cards that showcase Charlie Brown’s team of misfits: Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Linus and Lucy Van Pelt, Franklin Armstrong, Schroeder, and, of course, manager and pitcher, Charlie Brown. On the back of the cards are key stats for each player, including their field position and favorite sandwich.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown will also be offered in three colorful variants, including a green-grass pressing at Target, a sky-blue version for Vinyl Me Please, plus a special baseball mitt-brown edition at the Craft Recordings Store, limited to 350 units.
Additionally, one of the most memorable tracks off the album, the up-tempo “Baseball Theme,” will be available for the very first time as a standalone, 7-inch single—exclusively for Record Store Day 2021. Offering the original, 1964 soundtrack version of the song, plus an alternative studio take, the limited-edition release is pressed on white vinyl and housed in a colorful jacket, featuring whimsical, baseball-themed images of Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Visit recordstoreday.com for a list of participating indie retailers.
UK | Bouncing back? UK businesses’ views mixed as Covid lockdown eases: Banquet Records. …Banquet Records, an independent record shop, sometimes boasts queues of music lovers round the block. But even before the first lockdown, the owners chose to shut its doors. They have not opened since. Jon Tolley, the shop’s co-founder, said they want to wait until all social contact resumes. “Record shops will always be about the charm and the cult of browsing in person. We are not an Argos. We need to be fully immersed in the tactile experience, or not bother doing it at all.” The store’s resilience stems from running a varied business: putting on gigs, selling vinyl over the counter and online, and owning its own record label. Government high street grants and the furlough scheme helped it through during the initial slump. Banquet quickly adapted to online-only sales, which are now double the pre-pandemic levels, and organised virtual gigs. “People have nothing to do apart from sit at home and listen to records,” Tolley said. “The biggest challenge is just not knowing 
UK | HMV welcomes back ‘regulars’ as stores reopen after lockdown: Store manager Terry Boyle said it had been a ‘tough, challenging time.’ Shoppers have been hunting out hidden nuggets at HMV stores as the retailer welcomed back “all the usual faces” following the easing of lockdown restrictions. The entertainment giant reopened all 93 stores across England and Wales and was expecting to see in-store shopping return to pre-lockdown levels amid strong demand for vinyls and original CDs. One customer took the week off work to make the most of the easing of restrictions, and was looking to add to his vinyl collection at HMV in Manchester’s Arndale Centre on Monday morning. Ben Milner, from Lancashire said: “I just love music, I have got my record collection at home but it’s just not the same going on the internet and ordering stuff, it’s been another thing that I have missed so coming in and having a look around the records and stuff and seeing what I can find, why not.” Store manager Terry Boyle said it had been a “tough, challenging time”, but added: “It has been great this morning to see our regular customer base and all 
Nottingham, UK | Nottingham city centre store owners ‘overwhelmed’ by huge numbers as shops reopen: “We were not expecting to see it this busy.” Nottingham’s independent stores were busy today with shoppers returning to the city centre’s high streets. Queues were seen outside Zara, Primark, H&M and New Look by Nottinghamshire Live reporters this morning (April 12). Many of those shoppers chose to frequent the city’s independent stores to support their favourite Nottingham brands. Business owners said they were overwhelmed by the turnout, and did not expect to see so many customers entering their stores on a Monday. They said they were preparing for the upcoming weekend, but were taken by surprise on the first day non-essential shops officially reopened. Popular Lace Market book and record store Rough Trade is one place that has finally opened its doors after a long wait. Shop supervisor Sophie Diver, 30, said: “It’s nice to be back – people are so excited to come into the store and 
UK | ERA’s Kim Bayley on the return of music retail: Despite multiple lockdowns, record shops have kept physical music alive during the pandemic as they switched to new trading models, including collection and online orders. April 12 is the key date in the calendar for the return of non-essential retail, though social distancing and other safety measures continue to be in place. It means indie retailers and HMV can open their doors once again, although the prospect on an in-store gig is still some way off based on government guidelines. Record Store Day is set to return for its first drop on June 12. It follows a continuing vinyl boom and speculation that the format has been more widely adopted during the pandemic as fans were unable to spend money on gigs. Here, Kim Bayley, CEO of ERA, looks at how the return of retail could deliver another 
Brooklyn, NY | Park Slope Record Store Changes Owners, Bets On Vinyl: In an era where any song is just a few taps away on your preferred streaming app, independent record stores feel like a relic. So when Jason Figel decided to retire after running Music Matters in Park Slope for 22 years, he was prepared to simply shutter the neighborhood mainstay. Then Chris Lentz walked in and changed the tune. In an era where any song is just a few taps away on your preferred streaming app, independent record stores feel like a relic. So when Jason Figel decided to retire after running Music Matters in Park Slope for 22 years, he was prepared to simply shutter the neighborhood mainstay. Then Chris Lentz walked in and changed the tune. Lentz, 45, was a regular customer who was looking for a new project. Originally from Hicksville, Long Island—Billy Joel’s hometown—Lentz moved with his family but returned to New York to attend Columbia University, studying art history. A career in art installation for the fashion industry was abandoned when he became a stay-at-home dad eight years ago. After a brief stint in Los Angeles for his wife’s job in advertising, the family moved back to New York in 2015. “New York always seemed like home,” Lentz said in an interview with Bklyner, shortly after taking over Music Matters on April 1st. “Like a boomerang, 
Stamford, UK | Rutland business in lockdown – Oakham music agency’s café launch and boom year for Uppingham web business: Diversification has helped many businesses out of a dire scenario the pandemic had thrust them into. For Dave Graham, director of Rutland music agency, DG Music, lockdown persuaded him to add another revenue stream. With festivals and gigs, the lifeblood of his business, cancelled or postponed almost overnight, he brought forward plans to open the Piano Café, in South Street, Oakham. “Everything went south immediately,” he said. “Hundreds, if not thousands of events have been moved numerous times, from summer to autumn, into 2021 and then into 2022. “We wanted to help people so we have done that for free, but obviously we are not getting paid.” Having opened a base in South Street in 2015, he decided to merge his existing record store with his café idea. “I’d never intended to open it here because it’s a fairly small shop, but we rebranded the shop as a café and 
Sunny War bills herself as a folk-punk musician from Los Angeles. Her backstory is intriguing: she’s lived on the streets and traveled around by hopping on trains. However, she’s a little more settled now and—as you’ll hear—continues to look toward having some of that newfound stability influence her future music. She’s performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and has entranced many audiences along the way.
