Fifty-thousand vinyl records. A hundred-twenty-one vendors. Six hours.
Prepare for Indiana Jones levels of crate digging, when the inaugural Records & Retro market comes to Orion Amphitheater 11 a. m. to 5 p. m. Sunday. The market is free to attend.
The event’s been in the particular works even before Orion, the world-class music venue that opened in Huntsville this spring , was finished being built.
Married couple Andy and Ashley Vaughan, the owners of Huntsville’s fantastic record store Vertical House Information, organized Records & Retro, inspired by an idea from Orion general manager Ryan Murphy, who had success with a record fair at the previous venue he ran, Florida’s St. Augustine Amphitheater.
For vinyl enthusiasts, a big draw of record shows is getting to dig through information they don’t get to see every week in their local stores. Local stores like Vertical House and Madison’s Black Dog Grounds & Sounds will have booths from Records & Retro. But so will Birmingham’s Seasick Records, Chattanooga’s Yellow Racket Records, Atlanta’s Waterloo Sunset Records plus Hendersonville’s Elevator Vinyl among others.
In a treat for back-in-the-day Huntsvillians, Jay Ratts, the former owner associated with Huntsville’s dearly departed Sunburst Records, will certainly have a booth too.
Rocker Jack White’s Nashville based report label Third Man Records will be at Information & Vintage. Americana star John Paul White’s Single Lock Records imprint through Muscle Shoals too. Other record labels set with regard to Records & Retro include Birmingham’s Earth Libraries and Florence’s Arkam Records.
The particular Vaughns found vendors regarding Records & Retro through connections made over the years of visiting other record stores as well as via Instagram. They also found out vendors through a sales reps’ database.
“Several vendors are actually customers that will come to the shop and have huge collections, ” Andy says. “We hosted the (smaller scale) record show at Lowe Mill (the Huntsville arts center Straight House is located at) so we had contacts from that as well. ”
As the name suggests, Information & Old style has a twist: almost all things classic. “We wanted to blend the particular traditions of a record show with the addition associated with retro suppliers to add that will extra element towards the event, ” Ashley says. “These range from folks who sell and repair analog equipment, and others who specialize in clothing, furniture, tchotchkes, comic books, etc. ” A complete list of Records & Retro vendors can be present at Vertical House’s website .
In addition in order to aisles of records, cassettes and CDs, Vertical Home also includes an embedded vintage store in the back of the particular shop, Ida Mae Vintage. Ashley’s already been around vintage stuff since she was a baby, getting pushed around in the stroller with antique shops her parents brought her to almost every weekend. In high school, finding classic T-shirts on thrift-stores became one associated with her favorite things to do.
“Even nowadays my closet is 90 percent second-hand, ” Ashley says. “For most items, I’ll shop at an estate sale or thrift shop before buying new, if at just about all possible. It’s definitely a part of just how we live. ”
Back when the Vaughns started Vertical House Records within spring 2007, Andy was still working his graphic design job. Ashley was waiting tables. After launching the store in a 200-square-foot space on Lowe Mill’s second floor.
Dovetailing with the vinyl fabric retail resurgence, Vertical Home grew into one of the particular Southeast’s must-visit record shop. They’ve moved into bigger spaces in Lowe Mill (address 2211 Seminole Drive) five or so times, the last being in 2013 to their current “railroad room” outside the arts center. Vertical House’s used plus new stock can range from David Bowie, Queen, Prince and Aretha Franklin in order to Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Childish Gambino and Lizzo.
With regard to their Information & Vintage booth, Andy’s been holding back items he’s bought for Straight House the last few months to curate an all-star selection. “Definitely a good mix of classic rock, pop, soul, psychedelic, punk, indie, metal, hardcore, folk, jazz, plus blues albums, ” Andy says.
That stash includes records by The Beatles, Hendrix, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, The particular Zombies, Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, Robert Johnson and The Who. “The majority hasn’t hit the particular shelves in our store yet, ” Andy says.
Records & Retro is taking place all over the Orion Amphitheater campus, which is located from 701 Amphitheater Drive N. W. with the MidCity development off University Drive. Vendors will be set up within the amphitheater’s main dome, its concourses and beyond. “Vendors are all mixed among each other to encourage guests to visit all associated with the areas, ” Ashley says.
Humans can’t live on vinyl and vintage alone. So there will be food trucks near Orion’s north gate entrance. Huntsville’s Yellowhammer Brewing will have pop-up bars set up plus Gold Sprint Coffee will be providing free (! ) coffee in order to fuel your perusing. Live bands, including indie roots rockers The Invisible Teardrops, and DJs will set the day’s soundtrack.
For the best choice, obviously it’s best to hit a record display early within the day. But the Vaughns planned Information & Old style to be a cool all-day hang not just a Black Friday-type madhouse.
In addition to a good day of sales, the particular Vaughns hopes Records & Retro allows attendees in order to meet new friends and reconnect along with friends they haven’t seen in a while. They also hope the event blossoms into a new Huntsville staple.
Ashley states vibrant vintage retailing adds to the city’s culture by adding unique options for purchasing local. “Sure, it’s easy to get stuff online, but it’s so fun to go treasure hunting. ”
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