This post was co-written by John Higgins, Derek Malcolm, Caleb Denison, and Andre Revilla
On its surface, it might look like Record Store Day is about exclusive releases, but really it’s so much more than that. It’s a celebration of vinyl lover’s favorite medium and, more importantly, a way for us all to appreciate the humble record store. These hallowed bastions that have been celebrated in popular culture — most famously in movies like High Fidelity, Empire Records — have seen a well-deserved resurgence over the past decade.
Record Store Day has helped that, for sure, but it’s the atmosphere that these stores have fostered and the communities they’ve brought together that is what really makes them special. Not the exclusive releases, but the people. With Record Store Day coming up on Saturday, April 12, the vinyl enthusiasts of us here at Digital Trends found this to be the perfect time to highlight those stores that are meaningful to us. We may be spread out across the continental U.S. and Canada, but we are all connected by our love for these simple spinning grooved discs. Here, then, are the ones we frequent when we can, and the ones we will be at this coming Saturday morning.
I’ve been a sporadic record collector throughout my life. In high school, I built on my family’s collection by adding in my favorite classic rock albums from Led Zeppelin (including In Through the Out Door with the paper bag wrapping intact), Pink Floyd, and the Grateful Dead. During my masters degree, I frequented Amoeba Records in Hollywood to get $1 classical records to use for my studies (I was studying piano performance at the time). In the past couple years I’ve gotten back into it, although the biggest rekindling of my passion happened just under a year ago…
My experience with Run Out Groove Records started at last year’s Record Store Day. One of the exclusives was the newly remastered and expanded 30th anniversary of the self-titled G. Love & Special Sauce album with a cool light blue vinyl. I played and sang along to those tracks an uncountable number of times in high school and the early years of college, so it holds a special place in my heart and I needed to add it to my collection. The band played regularly at The Plough and Stars, a bar in Cambridge, MA, that was owned for a time by the family of a childhood friend. Legend has it, the song Cold Beverage was written in the bar’s kitchen before the band went on for a gig.
I called a few stores to see if they’d have it in, and Jeff Ferguson at Run Out Groove confirmed they would have two. I arrived at the store about an hour and a half before opening (they requested line up not happen any more than two hours before opening), hopeful to be close enough to front of the line to allay any fears I had of obtaining a copy. I was at least 100 deep. Should I stay or should I go? Going to another store would mean probably being even further back, so I chose to stay. I’m glad I did.
Jeff and Ellen’s (the two store owners) location last year was smaller than their current, so the line moved slowly once doors opened. It took a couple hours of waiting before my turn came, but the time waiting became an almost welcome part of the experience. Store workers would walk by offering donuts and water to those of us waiting, conversations began among those of us in line about what we were hoping to get, why we wanted it, and just music in general. Laughs were had, memories were made, and passion was shared while we eagerly waited for our individual opportunities. I ended up getting the last of the two copies, plus a non-Record Store Day copy of a Bowie record. Could I have found it online after the fact? Most likely, but I would have missed out on the experience of the day and finding the store I now visit.
This year, I’ll be lining up outside of their new location that’s just down the street from the old one — and a bit bigger — hopeful to get Rage Against the Machine, Tori Amos, Belly, Lemonheads, Morphine, Pixies, and Talking Heads. When asking Jeff about what he’s looking forward to, he said “There’s a Mingus on there this time, and that’s usually most of my stuff these days on Record Store Days. The Wall of Voodoo is a good one … and Chas from Wall of Voodoo is gonna be signing that day.” Yet another cool aspect of Record Store Day.
From Dead Dog Records to Kops, to the great Rotate This, Toronto is a mecca for great independent records stores, making it hard to choose a favourite. But if I had to pick one that has been with me throughout my vinyl journey, it’s Sonic Boom Records. The iconic record store holds the distinction of being the largest independent record store in Canada, and has been a staple in Toronto for more than 20 years.
One of the first records I bought when I re-ignited my love for vinyl back around 2015 (a used copy of Neil Young’s Harvest) was dug out of the sprawling record bins of Sonic Boom’s original location in the city’s Annex neighborhood. You might recognize those bins from Edgar Wright’s 2010 masterpiece, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (pictured below).
Luckily all that charm and, especially, its massive selection of new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, books, and more, survived the store’s migration to its current location in Toronto’s Chinatown where it has one of the best record store vibes in the world, especially for its size. I’ve spent hundreds of hours there over the years, including a half-dozen Record Store Days (for better or for worse).
The store’s record floor is just massive, with bins as far as the eye can see. “We renovated the basement and put up wood paneling to make it seem like, you know, somebody’s home basement in the 1970s,” Sonic Boom’s general manager Christopher Dufton told me. “It’s great, we can have in-store performances and events at any time and make as much noise as we want.”
Dufton, who celebrates 21 years at Sonic Boom next month, has had court-side seats for vinyl’s meteoric rise from the ashes, and gives Record Store Day tons of credit for the upswing. “This Record Store Day concept, it worked, you know,” Dufton says, with an affirming chuckle. “Record collecting all over the world has come a long way in the 18 years since it started. It’s pretty amazing to see what happens when a grassroots organization of a few stores come together and it spreads worldwide. And now I think records are more popular than they’ve ever been.”
And what’s even more encouraging is that it’s not just older, nostalgia-seeking dudes lining up outside at six in the morning for limited edition RSD releases, there’s something about vinyl that’s attracting a broad demographic of collectors.
“There’s a whole younger generation of super fans that want to collect a piece of their favorite artist,” Dufton says. “You know, CDs are cool, but CDs are small. They’re not as fun to look at or handle or frame on your wall. They’re creating their own nostalgia.”
But with online shopping and streaming music services, how do record stores fit into the mix? “It’s all about that experience of coming to your local record store,” says Dufton, who tells me that RSD at Sonic Boom promises to be a huge event with staff DJs spinning their favorite tunes all day. I’ll be bringing my 13-year-old daughter there this year for her first ever RSD. “There’s usually a bit of a journey involved. And yeah, walking inside and just being immersed in the media, there’s no better feeling.”
Given the radical boom in popularity that vinyl records have enjoyed over the past decade, I’m not sure Portland, Oregon can still lay claim to having more record stores per capita than any other U.S. city, but there’s no doubt Portland is just as friendly to crate diggers as it is to coffee snobs, craft beer nuts, and facial hair in general. Indeed, Portland is a treasure trove for vinyl enthusiasts.
I’ve visited — and spent plenty of money at – most of Portland’s amazing record stores. There’s Music Millennium — as revered by music lovers as Powell’s Books is by bookworms – Everyday Music, 2nd Ave. Records, Jackpot Records, Speck’s, and My Vinyl Underground — all excellent stops. Crossroads Music and Mississippi Records also hold very special places in my heart, but my absolute favorite local record store is a relative new arrival owned and operated by my good friend, Matt Kessler: Too Many Records.
While I would argue that it’s not actually possible to have too many records, I get where Kessler is coming from. One glance at the back of the TMR store reveals thousands of records that have yet to be inspected, graded, and priced for the stores many well-categorized bins. Imagine my shock when I was allowed to use the store’s restroom and discovered along the way easily three times as many records in backstock. Maybe it is possible to have too many if you gauge your success on moving as many discs as possible.
But sales volume is not what Too Many Records is about. Careful curation, outstanding grading, great prices, and unbeatable selection is what keeps me coming back to TMR time and again.
I’m into some really obscure stuff — big Band jazz, specifically — that most record stores won’t touch. Not only does Kessler and his staff already stock off-the-wall stuff out of shared spirit for those who seek it, they know their customers on a personal level and go out of their way to hold on to stuff that crosses their path when they know one of their customers might be interested.
TMR is the exact opposite of online record shopping in all the ways it should be. It’s personal, inviting, reasonable, fun, illuminating, and, perhaps above all else, immediately gratifying.
Matt Kessler runs a YouTube channel you should absolutely check out, and serves the online community through Discogs, Ebay, and Whatnot. I encourage everyone to check them out and show their support — just keep your grubby fingers off my studio big band records.
I’ve spent more hours than I’d like to admit sifting through the new arrivals aisle at Josey Records. Just outside of Dallas, a stone’s throw away from a freeway in the town of Farmers Branch, sits my favorite record shop.
Opened in 2014, Josey Records is a gargantuan haven for record enthusiasts, audiophiles, and beginners alike. One can easily spend an entire day (as I have spent many times) exploring its roughly 16,000 square feet of records, CDs, tapes, books, and music memorabilia.
What I love most about Josey Records is just how welcoming it is to music fans of all ages, interests, and walks of life. It’s a space where somebody picking up a shellac 78 of their favorite concerto can rub shoulders with a collector dropping some serious dime on their favorite Beatles first pressing that just came in.
It’s a store that proudly played host to a line of people wrapped around the building before sunrise for Taylor Swift’s Record Store Day drop of Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, and all the older metalheads in line for their limited-release metal records were just sharing stories of their love of music with Dallas Swifties.
I’ve recently moved to the Chicago metro area, and I’m hopeful to find a record store that offers the same great vibes and diverse collections as Josey Records. But until then, I’ll miss pulling up on the morning of a day off and losing myself in the aisles, knowing I’ll always find something that I can’t wait to take home.
Record Store Day 2025 takes place on Saturday, April 12. Check out the official U.S. RSD website for this year’s exclusive, limited edition releases. And for how to plan and get the most out of it, please check out our explainer on all things Record Store Day. Support local independent record stores and happy digging!
