North Texas Daily

Christina Ulsh // Design Editor

The Digital Age is slowly making bookstores and Blockbusters obsolete. Combatting this fate for local music stores, Record Store Day offers audiophiles the opportunity to glorify music  in the form of compact discs and vinyls.

Music lovers and local business supporters flock to their favorite independent record stores on Record Store Day, which takes place on the third Saturday of April to cultivate their record collections as well as spread public awareness.

“We had three times as many customers—people who bought stuff—on RSD compared to a normal Saturday,” Mad World Records Manager Dave Koen said. “Then there were people who came in just for the spectacle of it all and just looked around.”

Free buttons, stickers and albums are available for Record Store Day goers. At Good Records, boxes at the main entrance were filled with posters and other goodies that patrons could take. 

Every continent but Antarctica has record stores that partake in Record Store Day. There are 71 stores in Texas and more than 20 of those stores are in Dallas-Fort Worth.

This past Saturday, Good Records had its best day in sales since its inception 14 years ago, said Chris Penn, co-owner of the shop. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people went to the store for Record Store Day.

Celebrators buy food from Doughboy’s Pizza, enjoy various DJs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., fill their $5 souvenir cup with Till & Toil Saison or Bud Light and soak up the sun with a man-sized chicken wearing a Good Records tee.

“It’s like a Pop Warner compared to the Super Bowl,” Penn said.

The North Texas Daily traveled to Dallas to check out the international holiday and capture the busiest day ever at Good Records.

Customers wait in a line that curls around an aisle of goods to purchase what they have discovered on balloon-strung racks and streamer-draped shelves.

Perusing the records, customers sought newfound bands and favorite tunes to buy and take home with them.

Customers of all ages go to Good Records to file through the numerous albums, including special releases sold only on Records Store Day.

Rock band Oil Boom performs for a full house at Good Records. Fourteen bands performed inside the shop starting at 11 a.m. and not ending until early the next morning.

Laughing and cheering, Hadley Christianson plays with the balloons tied to the shelves. Her father Nathan Christianson celebrated Record Store Day  last year and a handful of years before that. He has a record collection shy of 100.

All photos by Christina Ulsh / Design Editor

Feature Photo: Max Andreola inspects the cover of a vinyl as Foxtrot Uniform performs in the background. With its beginnings in 2007, Record Store Day encourages music lovers to join the record store community. Photo by Christina Ulsh / Design Editor