Vinyl Closet, Siren Records Hit Play for Record Store Day

Every year, on the third Saturday in April, a unique event occurs to a special business niche that is as cherished as much as a 1966 acetate alternative version of Velvet Underground and Nico.

Record Store Day will be celebrated locally Saturday at North Wales-based The Vinyl Closet and Siren Records in Doylestown. 

"It's great for the record store, for the small guys, the indie record stores," said The Vinyl Closet owner Jason McFarland. "You meet new people and the regular customers come in, it's a big thing to support."

In 2007, a group of independent record store owners and employees conceived Record Store Day as a way to celebrate their culture. This culture is shared by more than 700 other independent record store owners across the U.S. and thousands internationally.

According to the Record Store Day website, the celebration is not shared by the likes of Amazon.com, Fye and the like.

Aside from The Vinyl Closet and Siren Records, other nearby participating stores include Sound of Norristown and Hideaway Music in Philadelphia.

Of the four, Siren Records and Hideaway Music are Record Store Day Pledge stores. This means, according to Record Store Day, the stores will "sell the commercial Record Store Day releases to their physical customers" and pledged "not to gouge them, or hold product back to sell them online."

If you want to take a drive up to the Lehigh Valley, you can visit Young Ones in Kutztown.

Record Store Day is far better known for something else than independent recognition: Exclusive music.

According to the website, Record Store Day is when musicians publish special vinyl and CD releases. Special promotional materials are also offered exclusively to independent retailers on Saturday.

"The main thing about Record Store Day is getting some great Record Store Day releases," said McFarland. "It's awesome for them to bring new stuff to the stores. The stuff they release is always awesome."

See a list of The Vinyl Closet Record Store Day releases at this link and at this link.

See a partial list of Record Store Day releases at Siren Records here.

The day is highlighted at participating stores with live performances or appearances. Some record stores hold cookouts, others do body painting or parades.

On the first Record Store Day of April 19, 2008, Metallica officially kicked off the annual event at Rasputin Music in San Francisco.

The Vinyl Closet will have no live music. 

Siren Records, conversely, has planned a full day of free music performances.

Peasant will hold a record release event at 4 p.m. Its new 7 inch will be available.

At 5 p.m., Plow United will hold its record release show. Its new album "Marching Band" will be available for purchase.

Young Ones, at 59 S. Constitution Blvd., will open at 9 a.m., with bands playing from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Featured bands include Manatawny Creek Ramblers, Barren Wells, Jonathan Monument (formerly Dad Fight acoustic), The Speedkings, and Last Call Romeo.

If you decide to visit The Vinyl Closet, located at 117 N. Main St., then you will find the store has a lot of vinyl, categorized by genre, and a few CDs. There is a 50 cent vinyl room and a 20 percent discount rack all the time.  

Visit The Vinyl Closet on Facebook. Contact The Vinyl Closet at 484-638-8761.

Vist Siren Records on Facebook. It is located at 25 E. State St. in Doylestown.

Visit Young Ones on Facebook.