Since today is Record Store Day all over this great land, we decided to hand the mic over to someone with a very big hand in the nationwide effort, our friend (and Teen Getaway frontman) Jim Fahy.  

Birmingham is lucky enough to be home base for two music industry (quite literally) heavy hitters, Scott Register & James Fahy. Each do their part by working for CIMS, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.  

This is a MUST read for any and ALL music lovers of any kind, in Birmingham and anywhere else in the world. I really mean that. This is an honest and heartfelt take on Record Store Day and the industry itself, from someone who works and breathes music every day.

Recently I was taking a look at the super-deluxe re-issue of Pearl Jam’s Ten. This luxe package not only contains the original album and a slew of requisite extras on both CD and Vinyl, but a composition notebook (like Vedder would write lyrics in) filled with essays and liner notes, and — the coup de grace – a complete replication of the cassette that featured the music that was sent to Vedder for him to try out lyrics and melodies (right down to it’s photocopied artwork). Vedder recorded his stuff, sent it back to the boys in the band and, pretty much right then and there, Pearl Jam was born.

Now let’s get something straight: this album is not my jam. In fact, I’ve held a longstanding grudge against it due to the fact that it caused me and my former best friend to battle over the tape deck of my ’68 Beetle. Our deep friendship was soon severed — he hung out with guys that wanted to play acoustic version of Pearl Jam songs at parties while I wanted to dress up like a beatnik / college professor / Athens, GA scenester circa 1985. I really miss that car…

Why bring this up? All this comes flowing back by just picking up the object — and simultaneously I was in awe of the record’s sense of history (a real treat for fans) and what the fucker meant for me way back in 1992. It was a feeling that, I dare say, was profound.

I’m a lifelong lover of music. I spent some time working in record stores. I loved it. Eventually I got a job in the music business doing marketing work for Independent Record stores. What’s interesting about the gig is that it puts you on the periphery of both how labels and distributors work and the guys on the front lines — the record stores… The places where I spent so much of my youth (and the little money I had) discovering everything I could.

I don’t have to tell you about how the digital landscape is changing what’s happening at Brick and Mortar stores. You know. You probably participate. If you’re living in Birmingham, you have few other options. And that sucks.

Part of what makes music such a glorious experience is its communal effect. It makes friends, it makes babies, it causes you to dance, to sing… To start your own band. Or make T-shirts. Or buttons. Or zines. Or blogs. It probably changed the way you voted, your eating habits, your tastes in movies and books. It kept you up late talking with friends, debating passions. It got you though a break-up or a death. If it wasn’t for my car and my tape deck, blasting R.E.M., The Pixies, Fugazi, The Boo Radleys, etc, I don’t where I’d be today. That shit saved my life. I bet it saved yours. All that from black and silver shiny circles.

The whole point of Record Store Day is to remind people of this vibrancy. Of what it is to scrutinize the art and lyrics, to score a hidden treasure, to debate the merits of a scene — to be alive with others and share something grand. To walk into one of these places is to throw yourself in an ecstatic sense of synesthesia — your entire body and mind react instantly. It’s a single stop that can inspire an adventure for which you can go alone or take a friend. Or friends. It’s one stop that can change the entire course of your week. It’s drugs and church rolled into one — and better than both.

These shops, big and small, are the cornerstones of freak communities all around the world. And they need people like you to keep ‘em alive. So step away from the screen and give back some of the life that they gave to you. 

Tags: birmingham record store day, cds, cimus, independent record stores, james fahy, record store day, vinyl

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 9:06 am and is filed under Face to Face, events, locals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.