Record Store Day coming to Saline County
For vinyl collectors, Record Store Day is one of the biggest days of the year. It is held every year on one Saturday in April. This year it is on April 23.
This will be the first time Record Store Day will be coming to Saline County, and it is coming because of a local store, Retro Rose, 113 East Sevier St., in Benton.
Audra Mcanally, a Saline
County resident who grew up in the county owns the store.
The store will open at 8 a.m.
The records that are released on Record Store Day are exclusives and they are always limited pressings. That is why every year vinyl collectors are waiting to see what will be on that year's list.
“Record Store Day is basically a day that puts an emphasis on your local record store. It’s where the artist and the manufacturer come together to kind of cut out the big guys and focus on you supporting your local record store” said Mcanally.
Not just anyone can participate in Record Store Day, only participating independent record stores.
“It gives full support to the little guys,” Mcanally added.
Mcanally said that it took them almost a year to get approved for this year’s event. Stores have to apply to participate and she said the hardest part was getting approved. Another difficult but fun part of getting ready for the event is selecting the records. Every year a list is released with the Record Store Day exclusives. Almost always the records are limited and it is on the owners of the stores to select which records they want. With the records being limited, there is never really a guarantee on which records will be sent. Mcanally has asked customers to tell her which records they are interested in seeing on April 23.
Record Store Day exclusives cannot even be sold online until 24 hours after the official releases because it is all about in-person shopping and promoting local record stores, she said.
Mcanally has said some customers have already told her they will be arriving at the store at 5 a.m. to await the opening and get their chance at an exclusive record.
“I hope someone camps out,” she said.
Records released on this day usually sell out quickly because of their exclusivity and this is the only chance for many collectors to get their hands on these items. Some of the big records coming out this year are the Taylor Swift single “The Lakes” from her album “Folklore,” the Ray Charles album “Genius," an Alice in Chains record and Pearl Jam’s “Live on 2 Legs” just to name a few.
Retro Rose is also partnering with 100.3 The Edge for the Hot Springs Vinyl Convention from
The Arlington Hotel. This is one of the first of its kind for the state and a local Saline County store is putting it on. There will be vendors from all over the country coming in to sell their records.
Mcanally said they are planning to have around 20-35 vendors bringing their collections, some from even out of state, at the event.
They will also be selling band shirts and other music merch. The band The Black Label Society will be at the event signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
“It’s going to be an experience,” she said.
She added that they are expecting more than 300 people to attend the event. Those interested can buy tickets online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hotsprings-vinyl-convention-tickets260773810487?aff=ebdiayyoutube.