Sat 4/19 @ 8AM
Some of your favorite independent record store owners are going to do something out of character today — get up early (after probably attending a concert or going to a club last night) and open their doors at 8am.
Luckily (I’m sure they’d say), they only do this once a year — it’s Record Store Day! It’s a one-day international event celebrated by small, independently owned record stores, when labels and artists release special product available only in these small stores, and the businesses themselves host special events, from giveaways to in-store concerts, autograph sessions and DJs, to BBQs.
My Mind’s Eye Records in Lakewood (16010 Detroit) is one of the ones opening at 8am. Among other things, they’ll have a drawing for a pair of tickets to the Nelsonville Music festival in southern Ohio (you can enter online at their site) and giving away 100 free tickets to select Grog Shop shows. DJs Kitty B. Shake and the Blonde Sheik will be spinning music, and they’ll be offering 20% off on most CDs.
Loop in Tremont is promising free coffee with each RSD purchase.
Time Traveler Records in Cuyahoga Falls has a tremendous lineup of some of Akron’s top musicians and bands, with the Poplars at 2pm, Cory Thomas at 3, Ryan Humbert at 4, Tracey Thomas at 5, the Strange Familiar at 6, Emma Shepard at 7, and Red Sun Rising at 8.
Akron’s Square Records also has some live music on tap for later in the day with Travelogue at 5pm, Chimney Swift and the Echoes at 6, and Analog Fog around 7pm. They open at 11am.
Waterloo Road boasts two record stores within a block — Blue Arrow and Music Saves, as well as the Beachland Ballroom. So that area will be hopping.
At Blue Arrow, Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo will cap a lineup of in-store DJs that also includes local musician Lawrence Daniel Caswell and artist Jake Kelly, who will also unveil a mural he created for the store.
Music Saves will be one of the stores opening at 8am, so you can pick up that special record early. Buy a Vinyl the Cat souvenir while you’re there too. And ’90s alternative rockers the Toadies will be in the store signing autographs at 3pm, including copies of their newly reissued 1994 Rubberneck, the platinum album that contained thrir biggest hit “Possum Kingdom.”
Waterloo music photo gallery Space: ROCK will feature Max Stern of Signals Midwest from 1-2 pm and a round-robin acoustic session with Shawn Brewster, Mike Kinsella and Shelby Sangdahl of Oldboy, Adam Korbesmayer and Elijah Bisbee of NOMADS, and Dan Miraldi of Dan Milraldi and the Albino Winos from 2-4 pm All are featured in the galleries current exhibit #ThisIsCLE Music Now: Who’s Rocking NE Ohio Today.
Finally, starting at 4pm in the Beachland Tavern, three local bands will play a free show: Filmstrip, the Commonwealth and Insurance Salesmen.
Different stores have different hours, events, and product available so check out the websites/Facebook pages before heading out to spend the day hitting all the stores.