by Ari Roth
Vinyl Revival is one of the latest in a new breed of modern record stores, emerging after the supposed “death” of the format as listeners began to return to analog. As Vinyl Revival’s Andrea DiFabio tells me, the store, which opened last August, does indeed sell records, “but in addition to new and used vinyl, we also sell home and fashion accessories that are made from recycled records. We have record bowls, pillows that are made from concert T-shirts, little journals from concert albums, handbags, and guitar pick jewelry. Any kind of music-related accessories and memorabilia.” The store is as much a tribute to the physical, tactile artifacts of music as it is a home to the sounds contained within.
Not content to simply sell music and accessories, Vinyl Revival has branched out to putting on shows in-house. As DiFabio says, “within our store space we also have a 35-seat theater, which used to be home to an independent movie theater. We’re also screening independent films and holding live music events there. We’ve done open mic nights, and we’ve had a number of different local Philadelphia bands of all different genres. We’ve done everything from acoustic singer-songwriters to punk rock bands. It’s been a lot of fun having these bands there.”
Ultimately, rather than simply being vendors, Vinyl Revival seeks to be a musical and cultural hub, as they aim “to create a music community in Landsdown for people in the neighborhood, and for people who want to venture outside of the city once in a while for something different.”
DiFabio sensed the turning tides in music listening habits, and while she’s had the vinyl bug for a long time, she felt that it was the right time to open a store. “I still listen to vinyl records,” she says, “and I noticed that, at a lot of shows I was going to, new bands were selling vinyl, and there were some new record stores opening in Philadelphia. I thought would be really nice if there were a record store in Delaware County, because other people from Delaware County, where I live, might want to shop for records too. That prompted me to start doing some research on vinyl, and I found out that vinyl sales are increasing over the past four or five years, so I thought, ‘hey, why not try it, open a record store, and see how it works out?’”
There’s no doubt about it: people are buying vinyl records in serious numbers again. In fact, DiFabio says that business is blooming. “The response has been great,” she says. “We have a lot of customers who are in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s who grew up listening to vinyl, and still to vinyl, and love it. We have teenagers, who are just getting into vinyl for the first time, or just getting their first turntables so they need to start their record collection. It’s been really fun, because there are a lot of different age groups of people who come in the store. Some people are collectors, where they’re looking for specific things, but a lot of them are just looking for music that they enjoy and picking up something new that they don’t have already.” This demographic diversity points to just how successful vinyl has become in 2014.
To commemorate Vinyl Revival’s first year in business, the store is pulling out all the stops, for a weekend bash that includes a big sale, shows, snacks and movie screenings. The management is slashing vinyl prices in half, so this weekend is a perfect time to stop by and stock up on some great records, new, old, undiscovered and well-loved alike.
Hard-touring folk singer-songwriter Betty Soo, joined by Bob Beach, will be performing on Friday night, promoting her brand new record, When We’re Gone. Her music is perfectly suited to the small, intimate venue that Vinyl Revival provides, and it’s a great opportunity to connect to live music as deeply and closely as possible, person to person, face to face. While you’re there, try some cake and snacks in well-deserved celebration of Vinyl Revival’s birthday, and stop in on the following night for an early screening of Shawn Swords’ Wages of Spin II. The first film dove deep into the dark underbelly of the music industry in the 1950s and 1960s, and the sequel jumps forward in time to probe music business corruption and intrigue at the height of its excess in the 1980s.
You can find Vinyl Revival at 35-37 N. Lansdowne Avenue, and the celebration will span Friday, August 22nd, and Saturday, August 23rd. The Betty Soo concert will begin at 7 PM on Friday, and the first Wages of Spin II screening will begin at noon, with two more screenings occurring at 2 PM and 7 PM. For advance tickets to both events, check out their website here, under the “EVENTS” tab.
