Record Store Day, a celebration of music, set for Saturday

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Record Store Day is an annual springtime tradition.

It’s a day for music enthusiasts from across the globe to gather at their local record stores to snag special releases from their favorite artists. This year, fans will have the opportunity to get their hands on limited offerings from classic artists such as the Grateful Dead and Ringo Starr, as well as those from more contemporary artists such as Paramore and Noah Kahan.

Beyond being a celebration of music for artists and fans, Record Store Day is a massive boost in exposure and excitement for the record stores themselves. In Northeast Pennsylvania, participating stores welcome guests from counties and states away, bringing the musical community together through their own unique twists on the day.

From the Wyoming Valley to Carbon and Columbia counties, local music fans will have plenty of shopping options for Record Store Day this year. With such an eclectic range of music and stores to choose from, shoppers looking to get in on the Record Store Day fun will have options.

Gallery of Sound

Joe Nardone Jr. of Gallery of Sound is the son of local music royalty. The stores, with locations in Wilkes-Barre and Dickson City, were founded by his father and Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Famer Joe Nardone Sr. But Joe Jr. has carved out an impressive career in the music scene in his own right, including being an early advocate for Record Store Day when the idea was first being brought up in store owner circles.

“We were at a convention of record stores, now it’s like 18 years ago. Some guys were there just kicking around some ideas of what we could do. It was kind of a low time for record stores, where Tower Records had just closed and some of the other big guys were getting out of the business, or disinterested. There was a lot of bad press for the music business,” explained Nardone Jr. “So the idea was let’s do something positive. Let’s try to get a positive spin on record stores, and kind of come up with some plan to give back to the people who support the stores.”

The survival of Record Store Day since its inception has been largely due to the incredible wave of local support that builds around record stores. This comes from fans and the artists themselves, who prop up record stores like Gallery of Sound throughout the year. From Nardone Jr.’s perspective, this support is a testament to Gallery of Sound’s dedication to quality customer service.

“The community support’s been really good. We’ve had a good following over the years and we try to do right by the customers. We try to have good customer service and try to fill the customer’s needs,” said Nardone Jr. “Whether we have [the product] in stock for them or we get things for people, we try to track stuff down.”

Musical Energi

Jay Notartomaso is the owner of Musical Energi (pronounced en-er-jai) on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. His store has a massive collection of used records and has bounced around to different locations, including a kiosk in the Wyoming Valley Mall and a storefront on North Main Street. The collection’s current home on the other side of Public Square was accumulated over many years, and is nicely kept in the relatively large amount of space he has in his prime downtown location.

“People come in and they bring in their records they don’t want anymore and eventually you’ll see – and then CDs came – so we started buying CDs and tapes. Records are like rabbits,” Notartomaso said with a laugh. “They come back a year later and all of a sudden there’s thousands of more records.”

Notartomaso loves the social element of being a record store owner, especially on Record Store Day. It gives him an opportunity to interact with the people who come into the store. Hearing from people with varied musical interests is one of the thrills of Record Store Day from Notartomaso’s perspective. A love of music, records and record stores is a common bond he and his customers can more actively share in the lead up to Record Store Day.

“It really helps us to know what people are looking for, because it’s really hard to predict what people will go crazy for. It could be something like you wouldn’t even think would be a big deal,” Notartomaso noted on the surprising releases that have gained traction for Record Store Day. “And then two days before you keep getting calls – ‘Do you have it? Do you have it? Do you have it?’”

Soundcheck Records

With a comfy location on the main drag in Jim Thorpe, one of Pennsylvania’s hottest tourist towns, Soundcheck Records attracts a wide audience. This is boosted by its close proximity to two of the most revered entertainment venues in the region: Penn’s Peak and the Mauch Chunk Opera House. Shop frontman Jim “Trooper” Pompa knows the advantages of working in such a trendy spot, evidenced by some of the more high-profile guests his store has seen over the years.

“That’s the cool thing about being downtown that floors me. Growing up in this town, none of this stuff happened when I was growing up here. We’ve been visited by Graham Nash and Kenny Loggins and John Waite and Samantha Fish. Mark Mendoza from Twisted Sister, the bass player; he shops here once in a while,” Pompa said of the famous names who have made stops in Soundcheck Records.

Pompa noted the growing interest in Record Store Day over the past decade and a half, especially as bigger artists hop on board with exclusive material. As the day gets bigger each year, the supply process for shop owners has become more meticulous. This is especially true when a certain artist who has a new release on Record Store Day also happens to have a passionate fanbase.

“Last year was our biggest Record Store Day ever, but that was Taylor Swift. She had that Folklore sessions LP that was just for [record stores]. The line literally went down and around the corner,” said Pompa. “Obviously people wanted other things, but ‘Swiftie’ was the driving force.”

WaxPax Records

You won’t find too many record shop owners more enthusiastic about their work than Mark Collier, owner and operator of WaxPax Records in Berwick. He and his main helper in the store, Raven Kline, have created an open environment for music lovers and artists to express themselves. WaxPax has quickly become not just a record store on the rise, but a hub for the local music scene in general. Having just expanded his store to include a performance area for live acts, Collier has brought music to the region in more ways than one.

“This is a zero music shaming store. I don’t care if somebody comes in looking for Waylon Jennings, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, the Chemical Brothers – I don’t care what you’re looking for. I’m not going to give you a hard time. I’m going to help you find it, and I’m never going to tell you ‘oh, you should listen to this instead.’ There’s no such thing as guilty pleasure. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it, and you do it unapologetically. I stand by that. There is no judgment,” Collier said of WaxPax’s culture.

In just a short time as the owner of a record store, Collier has quickly established himself as one of the area’s most prominent advocates for Record Store Day. Featuring themed game shows, live music and a number of prizes, WaxPax’s Record Store Day festivities contribute to quite the party atmosphere. This developed from what Collier saw as a demand issue from his own past experiences as a record buyer.

“When I was standing in line, my friends and I would be together, and we’d be like ‘man, it’d be nice if this was going on’ or ‘wouldn’t it be nice if this,’” Collier said of the past daydreams that informed his enthusiasm towards Record Store Day. “Why not take an already rad day and just crank it up? Just bedazzle it.”

Tips for Record Store Day 2024

Due to the high demand of certain products on Record Store Day, it certainly helps to call the shop you would like to visit beforehand to make sure they have what you are looking for in-stock. Each record store has its own special culture surrounding the day’s festivities, so planning ahead is critical. Plus, you’ll likely need to wait in line to snag some of this year’s hottest records. Thinking ahead about Record Store Day greatly increases your chances of doing it right.

The closest participating record stores to Wilkes-Barre include:

● Musical Energi, 24 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701 – (570) 829-2929

● Gallery of Sound, 186 Mundy Street, Wilkes-Barre Township, PA 18702 – (570) 829-3603

● Gallery of Sound, 237 Scranton Carbondale Highway, Dickson City, PA 18508 – (570) 969-0778

● WaxPax Records, 230 West Front Street, Berwick, PA 18603 – (570) 441-6799

● Soundcheck Records, 23 Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229 – (570) 325-4009

For a full listing of participating stores, visit https://recordstoreday.com/Stores.