 |
| Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. |
Every year at the absolute hottest
time of year, hundreds of indie record store folks from the around the country
– and sometimes the world – descend on New Orleans’ French Quarter for the
annual “RSD Summer Camp” a conference of independent record stores, indie and
major labels, artists, and vendors. These are the people who came up with the
idea of Record Store Day and have guided it throughout its existence based on
what we’ve observed that works (or doesn’t!) and on feedback from customers
about both the event and what works in stores throughout the year. Every year
we come away brimming with ideas from the dozens of great record stores we get
to hang with there – in the conference rooms, around the hotel, and less
officially, out and about over dinners and drinks in the Quarter and elsewhere
in the Big Easy. We always come home exhausted (and full) from the long days,
but it’s worth it every time. If anything, I wish it could be longer – there’s
never enough time with the folks we really want to hang with, meet new folks,
and get actual face time with our industry partners; before we know it it’s
Friday and we’re on a plane back home.
 |
| Pre-dinner at Etolie |
This year was something special
because the coalition of stores that Twist & Shout is part of, the
Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) celebrated their 30
th
anniversary (in style, I might add!). CIMS was formed in a very different
time, 1995, when a group of like-minded stores fought with the industry at
large against things like Best Buy’s loss-leadering of CDs, huge chain stores
receiving special discounted pricing and exclusive products, and the like – with
chain stores often cashing in on artists who broke through at our stores. CIMS
consists of some of the best record stores in the country: Waterloo Records in
Austin, Music Millennium in Portland, Record Archive in Rochester, Electric
Fetus in Minneapolis, and many more (you can see the full list of their amazing stores and find out more about them
HERE). As the retail landscape has changed, the
stores of CIMS have continued to modify our approaches to whatever challenges
the industry tossed up, with one of the chief successes being the Record Store
Day event itself. But CIMS alone didn’t do this – within a few years of CIMS
forming, another coalition sprung up: the Dept. of Record Stores (DORS -
featuring such heavies as Bull Moose in the northeast, Graywhale in SLC,
Reckless in Chicago, Zia in the southwest, and others which you can find the details for
HERE) appeared to do work in a
similar vein. Soon after followed the Alliance of Independent Media Stores
(AIMS – with Atlanta’s Criminal Records, Austin’s End of an Ear, Grimey’s in
Nashville, Seasick in Birmingham, and of course many more which you can learn more about
HERE), furthering the
spread of the seed that CIMS planted that although all the independent stores
in the country retain their own identity, we are all working toward the same
goals. Flash forward to 2021, when another coalition joined into the fray –
 |
| Candid group pic |
Forever A Music Store (FAMS), focusing on Black-owned music stores like DBS
Sounds outside Atlanta, Offbeat in Jackson MS, VIP Records in Long Beach, and
of course, many more (details
HERE again). All these stores ultimately chose to invite non-coalition
stores into the mix too – again, affiliated or no, we’re all working toward the
same goal and as part of the same industry.
If there’s one thing that’s clear
to me every time we go to this, it’s this: each of these stores retain their
own personality, their own flavor, reflecting the tastes and interests of the
owners and staff of course, but also of the region and the customers. We’re all
different, but all ultimately engaged in the same kind of community-oriented
efforts to connect with customers over a shared love of music and culture in a
personal and direct way in an increasingly mechanized and dissociative world.
Music and art heal and sustain us all, and THAT is what independent record
stores bring you, and that goes for all the stores mentioned above as well as
every indie store here in Denver and beyond – Wax Trax, Black & Read, Chain
Reaction, Angelo’s, Invincible Vinyl, Drop To Pop, Recollect, City Records,
Sold Out, Records On Main, and outside of the metro area Paradise Found in
Boulder, Leech Pit in the Springs, Absolute Vinyl in Longmont, All Sales and
Driver 8 and Bizarre Bazaar in Fort Collins, and so on. We’re all working
different facets of the same goal – keeping our communities less homogenized,
unique, and locally-focused. It’s always flowing through my mind when people
ask me if I’m concerned about the number of other stores in town, to which I
always answer “No, the more the merrier – every one that opens is good for the
health of the independent music industry and culture.”
 |
| Pool of Hotel Monteleone |
So it was incredibly validating
this year at Summer Camp to be shown this reel, from Ben at
YELLOW RACKET RECORDS in Chattanooga TN, putting
the words that have long bounced around my head on the topic into a fantastic
short reel on the subject, which you can watch in-full
HERE. Go visit them if you’re passing through Chattanooga
and say hi to Ben and tell him you saw his video. Check out all these Coalition
sites and see where the best indie stores are wherever you’re traveling. Do a
quick online search anyway even if you don’t see one in a coalition, because
there are an estimated 1500 independent record shops in the U.S. alone, there’s
almost certainly one nearby, and they’re all worth visiting to help keep the
uniqueness of our cities alive. And with the current construction along the
Colfax corridor wreaking havoc on many small businesses, this is on my mind a
lot these days – keep this principle in mind as you consider who you’re
supporting in every realm, not just record stores. Shopping local makes a
difference in the makeup of the landscape and keeps our city, and every city,
more interesting places to live, work, and have fun.
