Record Store Day 2012: All You Need to Know

I would like less convenience in my life. And while we’re at it, I am also getting tired of instantaneousness. Yes, those are two very nice features to have when it comes to late-night emergency room visits, but as for forging relationships—whether with friends or with culture—I miss making an effort over time. Yeah, I’m a dinosaur. But there’s something about discovering things firsthand that’s more satisfying to me than being inundated with snippets of digital content every hour of the day. I want to browse, to meander, to file things away for future reference, to cogitate. And then if the record or the movie or the person should eventually find me, it was Meant to Be.

The fifth annual Record Store Day on Saturday, April 21, is a great way to recall that simple experience. Meant to remind consumers that record stores still exist (and to send collectors into paroxysms of credit-card agony), RSD does more than just provide record-store exclusives and limited editions you can’t find anywhere else—it’s a day to rejoin the human collective and hear something new not selected for you by an algorithm. Here’s what Knoxville’s official RSD participants will be up to:

Disc Exchange

2615 Chapman Hwy.

573-5710

Bring a donation for Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley between now and RSD, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to shop to your heart’s content 10 minutes before Knoxville’s biggest record store opens. Otherwise, you’ll have to join the masses at 9 a.m. Live performers include: the French, Angel Snow, Hoots & Hellmouth, the Shaky Show, and Lera Lynn. Food: Savory & Sweet Truck. Drink: Remedy Coffee and Eagle Distributing.

Lost and Found Records

3710 Broadway St.

687-5556

Vinyl emporium Lost and Found Records recently moved to a new location (just across the street from its old location) that’s even funkier—a former home, which makes it perfect for house parties; the doors open at 10:30 a.m. Live performers include: DJ sets by Natestradamus, Nijoli, Kingo Gondo (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Pegasi 51 (2 p.m.), Itchy Bruddah and the Hatertots (3 p.m.), the Vaygues (4 p.m.), the Tim Lee 3 (5 p.m.), and the Mutations (6 p.m.). Food: Tim Lee reportedly will be camping out to barbecue voluminous amounts of pork. Meanwhile, the bands will be providing their own BBQ sauces. Who will win the battle of the BBQ? Drink: Old City Java and a keg of Yazoo’s Dos Perros courtesy of the Well.

Raven Records & Rarities

5710 Kingston Pike

558-0066

Co-owner Jay Nations brought his fabled Raven Records back from the mists of time with his good friend Jack Stiles for a vinyl and pop-culture one-two punch to the wallet; the doors open at 10 a.m. They’ll be featuring RSD LPs and 45s only, with lots of free swag. Outside will be tables brimming with two-for-a-dollar LPs, plus buy-one-get-one toys, magazines, and comics. Meanwhile, there will be a 10 percent storewide sale on pre-loved items, as well as unadvertised specials in the store.

Wild Honey Records

5204 Homberg Drive

588-8823

Knoxville’s newest vinyl haven sits in a splendid little cottage in Homberg Place—a scenic spot to greet the morning since Wild Honey will be opening at 8 a.m. Do record buyers get up that early? Now we can find out with the second edition of the store’s Rock Around the Clock tent sale from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., featuring thousands of 45s and LPs for a dollar or less. They’ll also be adding hundreds of collectible vintage LPs to store racks especially for RSD.

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