Celebrating independent record stores for the fifth straight year, Village Green Records once again will take part in National Record Store Day, offering two days of free performances.
On Friday and Saturday, VGR will welcome a diverse lineup of performers to its Martin Avenue lawn, from punk rockers to poetry readers. In addition, the store will join with record stores across the country in offering exclusive releases.
VGR store owner Travis Harvey decided to add poetry and comedy on Friday evening for the first time.
"I thought, 'I'll ask a couple rock bands, but I'll also ask comedy and poetry reading, too,' because those are other elements we've always had here at the shop," he said. "I just wanted to change things up that Friday."
The Saturday event will be more in line with VGR's typical rock 'n' roll celebration, featuring Rodeo Ruby Love, the Bonesetters, Support The Troopz and more.
"Saturday night's going to be your more common collection of rock delinquents and hoodlums taking to the front yard of the record store and tearing things apart," Harvey said.
THE LINE-UP
Returning from an extensive period of touring, including a stint with ska punk band Reel Big Fish, Rodeo Ruby Love is looking forward to returning to a familiar crowd.
Having played to many sold-out crowds in venues such as the House of Blues, Rodeo frontman Zachary Melton said there's nothing quite like a show in the VGR lawn.
"Some of my favorite shows have been playing in the front lawn of Village Green, playing for a crowd of 60 to 70 people," he said.
Melton acknowledged the efforts he has seen VGR make for the Muncie community, commenting on the store's truly unique atmosphere.
"It turned from a record store into almost a community staple, where if you want to have a film discussion, Village Green is a good place to do it," he said. "If you want to get your hair cut now by Algier, you go to Village Green."
Coming from Dayton, Ohio, for the event, "new wave-tinged punk-pop" act Oh Condor also will perform on Saturday, alongside many other high-energy rock acts.
After coming in contact with Harvey a few years back, VGR reached out to the band again in hopes that it would make the excursion.
"He sent us an email a few weeks back to see if we'd like a rematch, and we couldn't refuse," guitarist Tim Krug said.
Krug said he is looking at this event as more than just any other performance because of the fact that independent music is being spotlighted.
"It's one thing just to have an event celebrating independent music, but then to combine that with the small business owner is really something else," he said. "The guys running these shops are putting their heart and souls into them for the music fans just like the musicians are, and it's really awesome to have so many labels and bands offering up these exclusive records to show their support."
Although she has never been to a National Record Store Day event before, freshman art major Nikki Stacey said she is looking forward to this year's festivities.
THE STORE
VGR is part of a "dying breed," as more and more people turn to digital, and sometimes illegal downloading, Stacey said. All in all, she said she believes the one-on-one interaction the store offers truly sets it apart.
"Overall, I'd say that Travis is what makes VGR what it is," Stacey said. "He's a pretty charismatic guy."
Harvey recognized this day brings him a whole new batch of customers who may have never visited the shop before. Nevertheless, he said his true wish is that these people would return on a less busy day, where they can receive the intimate music experience VGR is all about.
"For myself, Record Store Day is a great day to have a lot of people come in, but I personally like to have one-on-one dialogue and connection with my customer," he said. "We're going to have discounts and a lot of special items coming in. But at the same time, if certain customers are coming in that day, they'd have a better experience of learning about music and everything on any other day of the year."
MARG:
For more information on the events, visit the Village Green Records Facebook page.
facebook.com/VillageGreenRecords
And for exclusive deals:
recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases
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