Vinyl stores around Tucson are gearing up for Record Store Day on April 20.
Retailers like Wooden Tooth Records and Desert Island Records have special deals and collectibles in celebration of the worldwide celebration.
Wooden Tooth Records’ owner Kellen Fortier sells new and used records. Wooden Tooth opened on RSD 2015 inside a coffee shop and has since relocated to storefronts on Seventh Street and on Congress Street in Downtown Tucson.
Fortier is celebrating Wooden Tooth’s ninth anniversary this year and he said business has been booming.
“Every Record Store Day, we order big on the Record Store Day exclusives. So, that’s really what brings people out — hundreds of different exclusive records,” Fortier said.
“We ordered pretty big this year. So, we’re expecting a big turnout.”
Besides selling records at its Seventh Street location, Wooden Tooth operates what Fortier calls a “beer bar record store” at the Congress Street store. Fortier said its RSD party will end with an evening book release event in partnership with Toxic Ranch Records.
Jorden Wright, owner of Desert Island Records, said his store opened six years ago and sells a variety of new and used records and equipment. For RSD, it will have 15% off used records and buy-one-get-one-free CDs, cassettes and 7-inch and 12-inch singles.
“We do a very big order,” Wright said. “We’re getting pretty much almost every title in. There’s a good handful that we’re not, but we order a little bit of everything and get in some stuff we do really big orders on. So, you know, the stuff that people can find throughout the day.
“There’s a lot of pop titles coming out this year. We order a good amount of all those. It just depends on which one it is. Some stuff we get shorted on. … There’s still some stuff we don’t know what we’re getting for sure yet or not.”
Wright said a special release on RSD is the latest Pearl Jam album, “Dark Matter.”
“There’s a variant of it coming out that’s just for Arizona and Nevada,” said Wright, who expects the rarity to sell briskly. “We did order that as well.
“It’s happened quite a bit before. There is stuff that I can’t even order on a regular day that’s a state variant only. … Just one state will get it.”
Vinyl is growing in popularity, among all age groups, Fortier said. Teenagers purchase releases from acts like Orchid, Misfits, The Clash and Metallica — somewhat thanks to Taylor Siwft.
“It’s cool to see kids getting into it through artists like Taylor Swift, but then coming into the shop. … We’re a counter-culture shop,” he said.
“We have a ton of punk rock. We have a ton of heavy metal, hip-hop. They start looking at things like, ‘Oh wow, look at this wide world of music,’ you know? And Taylor Swift brought them here.”
Similarly, Wright said that his customers often vary. He noted many were a mix of both newcomers and regulars.
“We do definitely have a good handful of regulars who know how I do things and like the way we do things,” Wright added. “I would say a real good mix of it is first-time customers and people that are just here for the weekend or the week and that’s it.”
With the day approaching, Fortier and Wright reflected on why people are drawn to records and physical media. Both said there’s a great quality to the sound.
“In my view, they’ve been ‘in’ for over 10 years. It’s just only recently that it’s kind of, broached more into the mainstream,” Wright said.
“It’s a whole experience putting on a record, listening to it all the way through, the way it was intended to be listened to. And, you know with the right setup, I think it sounds as good as any other form of media,” Fortier added.
Both owners look forward to the community engagement that only RSD can bring.
“That’s the other thing about Record Store Day is that it brings so many people together and it’s, like, always such a fun day. Like, people are excited to be there. And like yeah, you can feel it,” Fortier said.
“The people in line are just chatting about what they’re going to get and everyone’s excited and it always makes for a really fun day. We always have coffee and donuts as well. We set up a table outside with coffee and donuts for all the people who get here at like, 5 a.m. to wait for whatever they’re going for.”
Wright added, “It’s nice to see a lot of new faces. I think it’s generally just good for the community as a whole to see all these new faces and people that are getting into it. … There’s a lot of sharing on social media and peoples’ finds, and I think that just kind of gets more and more people knowing about it. Just have fun with it.”
Wooden Tooth Records
426 E. Seventh Street, Tucson
520-207-1588
108 E. Congress Street, Tucson
520-372-8621
Desert Island Records
2930 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson
520-365-3702
desertislandrecords.com
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2024.
