When I was growing up my Dad had a console record player. Underneath was an area for storing records. On top was a covered box to play them, next to a pretty sophisticated board of switches and buttons. Right smack dab in the middle was a slot for 8-track tapes.
It was ASMR and creative heaven for a budding music enthusiast.
The sound from that console record player still resonates in my mind. It was deep and rich and filled the room in a way my poor ole girl, Alexa, just can’t replicate.
I loved to listen to The Hobbit on record when I was really small, but as I grew up my favorite thing to do was put on Electric Light Orchestra, ELO. There was something magical about rolling the circle out of its sleeve, carefully putting it on the turntable before gently lifting the needle to the precise place on the album where it would begin.
The sound quite literally permeated through the cells in my body and altered my state of mind. I love the way music can change your mood or set the tone. You couldn’t listen to that album without moving your body.
Through the years, technology has evolved bringing us 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and digital copies. But the vinyl record remains.
I’d love to say that it’s because of nostalgia, but on a recent trip to Revolver Records, I was proven wrong. There are kids born well after the opening act of records, that may or may not have a memory of them as I do.
At Revolver, there’s everything from Taylor Swift to Joy Division, Etta James to Metallica.
And if you’re just now getting back into records, you are just in time to get ready for Record Store Day on April 22.
It’s a day when all the independent record stores across the country (and the globe) celebrate and spread the word about the culture of 1,400 record stores across the country. There are always special releases and promotional products unobtainable anywhere else but your local record store.
Why would you buy an old record when technology has improved to the point you can tell a digital concierge to play whatever you want?
There’s something really cool about being in another place with music enthusiasts. Looking at the cover art. Reminiscing about songs and artists that are attached to the people and memories of our lives.
Talking to the living, breathing catalog of music owner, Eric Jones, is as much a treat as flipping through the records.
The way I see it, technology has given us many advantages, but it’s taken us further away from people. Further away from connecting and enjoying something together.
The cool thing about Revolver’s current location is its shared space with Jitterburg Beverage Co. and its opportunity for connection. You can grab a craft beer or soda, before shuffling through boxes of vinyl and quite possibly making a new friend.
Isn’t that what music is really about anyway? Connection? To a time and place, to ourselves and our emotions, and to other people in a way that we can’t quite put into our own words?
No matter what decade it is, whether its Johnny Cash or Chris Stapleton, The Offspring or The Cure, records put a stamp on the passport of our own lives or ones we’ve never lived.
Pick up your next stamp at Revolver.
Revolver Records is located at 2050 N. 12th Avenue, Pensacola. They are open today until 2 p.m. and can be found on Facebook here and Instagram here.
