According to a post last week on Sacramento Press, midtown will soon have a new vinyl record shop, Phono Select Records. The store will open in September on K Street, and is being led by a longtime buyer for Tower Records and his business partner.

Sacramento Press writer Suzanne Hurt describes the planned store, noting it will carry local bands and small labels:

"More than half the inventory will be vinyl records — about 5,000 to 6,000 will be 33s or "long-playing" records (LPs), and about 1,000 will be two-song 45s. The store at 2312 K St. will stock almost as many CDs and a smattering of cassettes, which are seeing a revival among indie rock labels. About 70 percent of the merchandise will be used.

"A lot of LPs are being reissued now. Some of those have thicker, higher-quality vinyl and better sound, making this a good time to buy records, Basi said.

"The roughly 1,200-square-foot store will contain listening stations with phonographs, cassette players and CD players. The store will sell more than music. Phono Select will carry old and new posters, books, magazines, T-shirts, band buttons and pop culture curios."

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Dane Drewis has a bloodline strong with Motown, bossa nova and pizza. According to a March feature in Submerge Magazine, the local singer/guitarist grew up in a home full of soulful tunes, but did his best not to listen to it:

"I couldn't stand all the stuff they listened to when I was growing up; all the Motown, lots of bossa nova and Latin jazz. I heard it millions of times, but went out of my way to block it out of my mind. Now that I'm older it's coming back in waves I would never have imagined.

[...]

"I heard Led Zeppelin for the first time when I was a senior in high school. That's how into hip-hop I was. I used to be able to go through whole DMX and Tupac albums word for word. In hindsight, I listen to those records now and there's a lot of musical stuff going on there. It was my way of rebelling, but it led me here. Couldn't have been that bad."

Now, the former frontman of Cuesta Drive is focusing on music more similar to what used to fill the halls of his home, and his family is taking notice. His sisters and mother often lend background vocals, and his father is touring with Drewis, playing bass guitar.

The rest of the time, the roles reverse and the ardent SF Giants fan works for his father at the family pizzeria.

Drewis will play at 8 tonight at Crawdad's on the River, 1375 Garden Highway. His light, soulful tunes will likely be a perfect fit for the low-key venue, which I first visited about a month ago. Crawdad's is more restaurant than venue, more date-destination than concert hall, and wide-appealing music like Drewis' will likely be well-received.

Drewis released his debut solo album, Rock & Soul, in April. Promo video after the jump...

Dane Drewis - Rock & Soul - Promo from Michael Hutchinson on Vimeo.

[Dane Drewis - official site]

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By Paul Rios - Special to Sac in Stereo

I admit that I used Record Store Day as an excuse to visit Dimple Records’ vinyl specialty store. When this hallowed of crate-digger holidays comes around, normally I just make a beeline for R5 or The Beat. Both have more in the way of atmosphere than any of Sacramento’s local Dimples. Still, my curiosity about the new store made me reconsider. I figured I could pick up a couple RSD exclusives, snag some kooky, dollar-bin throwaway and call it a day.

When I arrived at the Dimples on Arden, the Record Store Day festivities were already in full swing. I just missed a live performance in the main store, but some folks from 100.5 The Zone kept the music flowing. Rather than subject myself to the greatest hits of Sugar Ray, I headed down the alley to the vinyl store. Outside, an older guy diddled on an acoustic guitar next to a hot dog stand and a prize wheel. The vinyl store space was about the size of a garage and stuffed, to my surprise, with great, cheap stuff like “Big Ben” by Jorge Ben, which I snapped up for a George Washington. I snagged a Record Store Day reissue of John Fahey’s “Yellow Princess” and fondled one of the limited edition “Dummy” reissues before deciding to buy less-than-mint copies of “Tijuana Mood” and “Station to Station” among other things.

Along with a prerequisite table of free 7-inch singles, tote bags and stickers, vinyl store customers had a chance to spin the prize wheel and win other goodies. Myself, I managed to win a $20 record cleaning kit, which will be damn useful because I have a whole stack of those dollar-bin throwaways that could use a good scrub. And a wonderful Record Store Day was had by all.

Thanks to Paul for the submission! Submit your story here.

[Photo: dimple.com screenshot]

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Sadly, I'm spending the weekend in the vast expanses of central California (Kings County, to be exact). This means I won't be in Sacramento for any Record Store Day festivities.

Have a story about Record Store Day in the City of Trees that Sac in Stereo readers should hear? Submit it!

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Tomorrow, hundreds of independent record stores around the world will celebrate the third-annual Record Store Day. In Sacramento, four stores are listed as official participants: Dimple Records (all six locations), R5 Records, Rare Records and The Beat.

According to the event's official website, there are strict criteria for a store to participate:

A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a physical retailer whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. (In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths).

More info after the jump.

Typical Record Store Day events include giveaways, concerts and sales. Last year, several local stores celebrated, the Sacramento Press reported.

Also, Pitchfork has a massive rundown of interesting new releases and events.

Record Store Day official website

[via IndieBlogHeaven]

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A couple weeks ago, a nationally aired podcast focused in on Sacramento's music collectors and the well-known record store The Beat. State of the Re:Union, a Florida-based podcast focusing on specific communities around the country, traveled to Sacramento as part of its "Sounds of the Re:Union" series.

"For many of us, independent record stores are the unsung cultural cornerstones of an area," Ian DeSousa, creative director for the podcast, said in a press release. "We're excited to have the opportunity to shine a light on institutions like The Beat, the kind of local epicenter that creates a gravity all its own and connects a community of music lovers."

Also, look for the nice, tidy statement from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson on his love for The Beat.

Video after the jump.

Sounds of the Re:Union - For the Record: The Beat.

Sounds of the Re:Union

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Light Rail took home one of 19 Sammies at Saturday's festival (20 if you count the tie for Outstanding Hard Rock/Metal). Before the awards were handed out, they took the stage in the sweltering heat. A few songs in, they were joined by an unexpected guest. Hit the jump to find out who (hint: it's the other musical group in the title of this blog post).



And for good measure, here's one more video of the unique musical combination that Light Rail and Righteous Movement created:



Update: One more video from Righteous Movement, who decided to go with a beatbox song after going back and forth about which song to perform next.


Update: One more video of Righteous Movement and an interesting dance they taught the crowd.



Stay tuned for more videos from the Sammies music festival.

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