The annual, worldwide Record Store Day returns Saturday (see this week’s Cover Story for some local vinyl collectors especially excited about this). The celebration of independent record sellers means innumerable limited-edition releases will be made available from music manufacturers big and small, and several shops in Greater Cincinnati will once again be hosting special events for RSD.
Visit recordstoreday.com for a list of RSD exclusives, as well as which stores in the area are participating. Here are a few local RSD notes:
• Shake It Records (4156 Hamilton Ave., Northside, shakeitrecords.com) will have some special local-music-related items available for RSD. The store (which opens at 9 a.m. Saturday) is issuing an unreleased album by Cincinnati Punk pioneers The Reduced through its label. The Jockey Club favorites recorded Drastically Reduced in 1986, but the album never came out. The Reduced will perform a set at Shake It Saturday at 7 p.m. with a special lineup that includes Bryan Dilsizian of The Long Gones on vocals (original Reduced vocalist Bill Leist passed away early last year). There will be other performances throughout the day Saturday, including sets by Folk/Americana act Honey & Houston and Reggae/Caribbean crew Queen City Silver Stars.
Speaking of the Jockey Club (once the Greater Cincinnati Punk scene’s version of CBGB’s), Aurore Press has pressed more copies of Stories for Shorty: A Collection of Recollections from the Jockey Club 1982-1988, which includes several essays about the Newport club. Those copies will be available at Shake It while they last (the first edition of the book sold out quickly).
Shake It will also have a limited number of copies of a 7-inch single by Wussy that is being released on the band’s U.K. label, Damnably (Shake It is Wussy’s longtime U.S. label home), for RSD. The single features Wussy’s excellent version of “Ceremony,” the 1981 debut single by New Order, as well as unreleased Wussy original “Days And Hours.”
Rhinegeist has again made a special beer in honor of Shake It for Record Store Day. Last year, the brewery created a brew called A Side; this year, the drink will be called B Side, and it will be available to sample at the store (several Northside bars will also be serving the beer). Shake It is also again doing its food drive for Churches Active in Northside (CAIN) this year; a canned good donation will get you 10 percent off your entire RSD purchase.
• Everybody’s Records (6106 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge, everybodysrecords.com) has a full slate of local musicians performing throughout the day for Record Store Day. The store opens at 11 a.m. Saturday, and live music begins at noon with a performance by reigning R&B/Soul Cincinnati Entertainment Award winners Krystal Peterson & The Queen City Band.
The rest of Everybody’s live-music lineup for RSD features Strangetunge (1 p.m.); The Tongue and Lips (2 p.m.); Ben Knight & The Well Diggers (3 p.m.); The Cla-Zels (4 p.m.); Lemon Sky (5 p.m.); and Patsy (6 p.m.).
• Legendary downtown bar/restaurant Arnold’s isn’t a record store, but it is getting in on the Record Store Day action again this year. The bar and grill has curated and produced the Arnold’s Bootleggers and Hustlers Vol. 2 local music compilation with Neltner Small Batch Records. Last year’s compilation sold out within a few hours and was reportedly the top-selling RSD release at Everybody’s Records. The compilation is limited to 500 vinyl copies; 400 feature gold and blue covers (with artwork by Keith Neltner and pressing by Otto’s) and are on transparent gold vinyl, while 100 copies will have red and blue covers and feature clear vinyl. Every copy is numbered and signed by Neltner and comes with a 45 adapter courtesy of 50 West Brewing Company (you won’t need it to play the Bootleggers LP, but you can use it for your 7-inch RSD purchases).
This year’s Bootleggers and Hustlers compilation features artists all from the Greater Cincinnati area. The LP includes tracks by Rubber Knife Gang, Willow Tree Carolers, Margaret Darling, The Hot Magnolias, Dottie Warner & Ricky Nye, Rumpke Mountain Boys, My Brother’s Keeper, The Cincy Brass, Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle and others.
Here’s a video about last year’s Vol. 1 release:
Record Story Day Release “Bootleggers & Hustlers” from Keith Neltner on Vimeo.
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: mbreen@citybeat.com
This article appears in Apr 6-13, 2016.