“Hearing a vinyl album, even just holding one in my hands, instantly evokes the deep nostalgia of an Indian kid who, always feeling like an outsider, finally had someone (or something) to hang out with.”
“In the small living room of my childhood home in Holland, Texas, my parents kept a record player tucked in the corner where I would hear Elvis Presley covering Christmas songs or Dolly Parton confess that she (with her dirty feet) may not be worthy to walk on the Golden Streets Of Glory.
At 5 or 6 years old, I would sit and watch albums spin on the turntable, and if no one else was around I would change the speed and run the records backwards, fascinated by the whole thing. I felt like we only had a few albums growing up, but I remember that turntable always spinning, even if it was Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, and Kenny Rogers on repeat. We had a few records that told bedtime stories, too, but thanks to my mom, Dolly Parton’s Golden Streets Of Glory is imprinted onto my heart.
I’ve since started a vinyl collection of my own featuring artists that I feel speak to me: M83 to Death Cab For Cutie to Godspeed You Black Emperor to Thom Yorke and Pedro The Lion. I call it my “desert island collection.”
The smell of the vinyl and cardboard, the feeling of my fingernails running along the grooves of the albums, the way the needle pops and hisses when starting it from the top will forever bring me back to my childhood home. It was crucial Belle and the Dragon have Birthrights be available on vinyl, because I believe someone somewhere feels just like me.”
—Sameer Bhattacharya
Birthrights, the debut LP from Belle and the Dragon, featuring members of Flyleaf and P.O.D., is in stores now—on (autographed) vinyl. Follow the band on their Facebook page for virtual performances during the current Coronavirus crisis.
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