Area locations to celebrate National Record Store Day

Special vinyl releases and discounts will be celebrated by music fans across the country this weekend for Record Store Day.

“It has evolved above and beyond our single biggest day of the year,” said Greg Halamay, owner of Finders Records in Bowling Green.

The 11th annual Record Store Day will be celebrated Saturday by independent record stores across the country, including Culture Clash Records on Secor Road. The store will have live music beginning at 3 p.m.

The 11th annual Record Store Day will be celebrated Saturday by independent record stores across the country. The celebration includes store discounts on supplies, in-store musical performances, and special releases.

Stores participating in the Toledo area include Culture Clash Records, Friendly Beaver Records, and Allied Record Exchange, as well as Finders Records in Bowling Green.

Those in Toledo will notice a sidewalk sale starting at 9 a.m. in front of Culture Clash records on Secor Road, which features CDs and 45s before the store opens at 10 a.m. Handcrafted doughnuts from Holey Toledough will be available as well as coffee in the morning, followed by food from Rusty’s Food Trip starting at 11 a.m.

Live music starts at 3 p.m. at the store and includes sets from Charles Hill, Jr., Libby DeCamp, and Oliver Hazard. Kombucha tea drinks from Boochy Mama’s will also be available.

“I wanted to have more things for people to do or more excuses for people to stay put longer,” said Tim Friedman, owner of Culture Clash Records.

This year’s special releases from artists include David Bowie, John Carter Cash, the Cure, Car Seat Headrest, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and countless others.

“There’s going to be a huge variety,” Friedman said.

Greg Halaway has owned Finders Records in Bowling Green since the store opened in 1971.

He said he’s seen people camp out the night before Record Store Day on the front sidewalk to secure their place in line to make sure they can purchase a limited special release.

He said his store usually spends about six weeks of placing orders to distributors and manufacturers to make sure Finders Records has a wide variety of releases for people to choose from.

There’s always a line of people waiting to get in to his store, he said.

“It brings to life how special a record store can be to its community,” Halaway said. “When you look back at the culture of the music industry it's so much a part of many people's lives. It’s a day of celebration. For a lot of people the nostalgia of coming to a record store has not passed away. It still exists and I think for the fact of what Record Store Day has become it has nourished the growth of the record store and is on the rise.”

Also on Saturday is the second annual celebration of Pat O’Connor Day, an all day celebration of the late Pat O’Connor who died in December, 2016. He was the former owner of Culture Clash Records and Boogie Records and was a co-founder of Record Store Day. The day will include a citywide celebration of live music from local musicians and artists.

Culture Clash’s Tim Friedman said one of his favorite aspects of the independent store’s celebration is the face-to-face interaction among music fans.

“What really drives people’s interests and curiosity and creativity is bonding over something in person, talking to someone in person,” Friedman said. “They’re interested in being a part of something. That’s part of what Record Store Day represents.

Contact Geoff Burns at gburns@theblade.com or 419-724-6054.