Making the rounds on Record Store Day

Vinyl Press in Panama City

SEASIDE — I started my Saturday morning last weekend standing in a line winding up the exterior stairs at Central Square Records in Seaside. We were there in the fog for first dibs at special releases available on Record Store Day. I had a short list of titles to look for — most importantly, Polaris’ “Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete,” which a helpful store associate helped me locate.

The store was packed, but all the extra clerks made the experience much easier and more pleasant than you might expect. Not only that, but everyone combing the shelves seemed genuinely excited to be sharing their love for vinyl music with like-minded folks.

Conversations broke out in the lines. People complimented each other’s T-shirts or musical choices. Lots of pleasantries passed as we reached past one another or handed items back to someone who couldn’t quite reach the shelf. I even saw someone give up an album they had picked out, handing it over to someone else who wanted it too.

It was a pretty cool morning.

I left Central Square with most of what I had come there seeking, but wanted to stop by another shop before calling it a day. That took me all the way back into downtown Panama City.

Record Store Redux

PANAMA CITY — Vinyl Press has relocated from its original space beside Mosey’s to inside A&M Theatre, 563 Harrison Ave. The old location, as anyone who visited there would know, sloped to one side like a villain’s lair in the old “Batman” TV series.

When it became clear the floor couldn’t be fixed inexpensively, and with Record Store Day approaching, brothers and co-owners Ryan and Patrick Burkett decided to move the stock a few blocks away and up a flight of stairs. Want more details about the shop? Check out Vinyl-Press on Facebook.

The evening before Record Store Day, the shop hosted a grand re-opening party with live music by SuperMoon, Dirt Don’t Hurt and The Burl. I had the honor of being the first customer to hit up the new credit card reader, grabbing a special edition single by Johnny Marr (“I Feel You” backed with “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”) for my son.

While at Vinyl Press, I also got a chance to touch base with local artist Eric Jones, whose work has been displayed at both locations of the record store. The former owner of the Corner Gallery, Eric is participating in “Colors,” the next exhibition at A&M, opening at 6 p.m. May 1 in conjunction with Friday Fest downtown. If you have work that might fit the theme, email colorsartshow@gmail.com

Meanwhile, put another platter on the turntable.

Peace.

Getting in the groove

PANAMA CITY BEACH — My haul at last Saturday’s Vintage Market in downtown Panama City included four albums featuring old-time radio shows of “Superman,” “The Green Hornet,” “The Shadow” and “The Lone Ranger.”

My friend Brady has said he once tried to listen to an old radio show, but it was too strange — apparently stranger than an audio book or whatever the closest modern approximation might be. I replied that “The Shadow” was “The Walking Dead” of its time — appointment radio; no doubt future generations will look at “The Walking Dead” and not understand our fascination with the quaint technology called “television.”

Other than the treasures I find in thrift shops and yard sales, my album collection has swelled in part because family or friends no longer played theirs, so they gave them to me. It’s how I accumulated everything from Broadway musicals to the Dead Kennedys, from chamber music to King Crimson, and from Boots Randolph to Souxsie and the Banshees. It also has helped me develop as broad a range of favorites, which I often display in a changing rotation.

One wall in my writing space at home features albums exhibited in frames; I trade them out when the mood strikes. Recently the collection has focused on portrait covers and included the likes of Kate Bush, Johnny Cash, Todd Rundgren and Nat King Cole. Before that, it was a group of movie soundtracks. During the season, it features old Christmas records. I suspect it’s about to be filled by radio shows.

And it’s not just nostalgia, either. Vinyl lives.

That’s more than simply a statement about the “warmth” you might hear someone describe when comparing the sound of a vinyl record to a CD or mp3. It’s also a truism about the record industry in an age of digital downloads.

Indeed, if you buy an album on vinyl these days, the price usually includes a code to download the entire album for your mobile listening pleasure.

Vinyl will be celebrated Saturday with international “Record Store Day,” which is also a way to recognize local music shops. Both objects of attention may seem like dinosaurs (and this is a guy who still works in print media talking, so I’m not calling names), but they still have life in them — and maybe even a bright future.

Central Square Records in Seaside is the nearest participating store, marking its fifth year as part of the event. The shop will have most of the limited-edition records being offered for the day and lots of giveaways (record totes, label samplers, T-shirts). There will be live performances in the store by Chris Alvarado (releasing his new album “Home"), Cody Copeland (supporting his new release "Two States"), and Gileah & The Ghost Train.

Central Square will also have a drawing for a test pressing of J.J. Grey’s new album, "The River." The store opens early for the event — 8 a.m. — and there will be a crowd, so be prepared.

Peace.

(This is my Undercurrents column for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald this week.)