Saturday, April 21 music-lovers around the world will pause Spotify for a few minutes and head out to support brick and mortar shops as part of Record Store Day.
The idea for RSD came from an email sent by Chris Brown of New England-based Bull Moose Records. Behold, the email that started it all:
“When I was talking about it with other people, we were like ‘Ehh, you know I don’t know what this is going to become, but it seems cool, so let’s just try it,” Brown says.
Brown says he never expected the annual music holiday to get as big as it has, with stores around the world opening early, hosting live performances and offering promotions as part of RSD.
“What I notice is that people start talking with each other, making friends,” Brown says. “And it just makes people feel good to be part of that.”
This year more than a dozen shops are participating in Record Store Day across New Hampshire.
One of them is Revolution Records in Conway. Owners Lisa and Dan Belflower say they're busy readying their stock of 15 thousand vintage records and clearing space for five bands to perform.
“Four out of five of them I'd say are young start-ups, they play heavy stuff, they play punk stuff and they don't get the opportunity to play that much,” Dan Belflower says.
The Belflowers just opened their shop in June, 2017 and were bummed they couldn't participate last year.
"We're both kind of amateur musicians: I play bass and [Lisa] plays a little guitar," Dan Belflower says. "Music has just been such an important part of our lives -- both of us -- our whole lives."
Now in its 11th year, Brown says he’s proud there’s a community of people who enjoy RSD every year.
“Record Store Day is just a lot of fun,” Brown says. “It’s fun to work in the store, it’s fun to come to the store, of course. It’s sort of like a wedding reception or high school reunion kind of atmosphere, without all the goofy behavior.”
Check out a map of New Hampshire business taking part in Record Store Day here.