Vinyl is back, not that it ever really went away, but why the sudden resurgence in interest? That’s what Brazilian scholarship student Diego Paulino decided to find out once he discovered University of Lethbridge based community radio station CKXU 88.3 FM was holding a bigger and better Love And Records — a celebration of all things vinyl in Galt Gardens, Sept. 14.
So he decided to shoot a documentary of the event and dug deeper to discover why the passion for vinyl.
“There will be two parts to it. The first part is about record collectors and why people collect vinyl. The second is about the event itself,” Paulino said adding each film will approximately 15 minutes long.
After they are completed, CKXU will use them as promotional material for future Love and Records. They will also be subtitled in Portuguese as his friends back home were fascinated by the project and Love and Records, so he will also take them back to Brazil.
“It’s a way to share a little bit about Lethbridge,” he said.
“When I started it, it was just about Love and Records, but it is growing bigger all the time. I was impressed something like this was happening here because it is such a small city. I thought ‘that’s sweet,’” he said. He found it interesting that different people had different reasons for collecting vinyl.
“Some people collect them because they think it sounds better, others love the cover art and other just love collecting records,” he summarized.
“It’s a nice thing to talk about music and why people love music. It is one thing we all have in common,” he continued.
Love and Records originally began as a way for CKXU to clear out some of their old records and perhaps make a few dollars in the process, but has evolved, three years later into a day long celebration featuring live music, a beer tent, family activities and all manner of records and record collectors. There will be a bouncy castle plus arts and crafts for the kids. The bands from this summer’s Lethbridge Girls Rock Camp will be performing as well. There will also be 27 vendors from across the province. They have also moved the beer gardens to a location with a better view of the stage.
“We’ve definitely tried to feature music with a wider appeal,” said Curtis Goodman, one of the organizers of Love and Records. He said they have a great team and lots of new blood helping organize the event this year.
“We have Nathan Kunkel and Branden Hamilton this year who made sure all of the “t”’s are crossed and the “i”’s were dotted,” he said adding they have also received support in the form of grants from Alberta Culture and donations from local businesses.
“Originally Love and Records was a fundraiser for CKXU and a way to free up some space, but now it is a community event and a chance to get people out in the park and show them there is so much more to offer in music than just CDs and MP3s,” he said adding his favourite record in his collection is a Jimi Hendrix Reissue “Valleys of Neptune.”
Diego Paulino’s favourite record after some thought is a Brit pop band called The XX.
“ It will be 12 hours of free music for everybody. It definitely has a wider appeal,” Goodman said.
Several big name bands will be performing in the park this year for Love and Records including Vancouver funk collective Five Alarm Funk and Edmonton sludge metal trio Black Mastiff, plus a lot of other local acts including the Hibikiya drums and others ranging from country to indie rock and pop. There will also be after parties at the Slice and the Owl.
The Slice after-party will feature heavier music including Daywalker, Calgary based doom rock band Witchstone and local stoner rock trio DIRT.
The afterparty at the Owl Acoustic Lounge will be more laid back with Moose Jaw based indie rock/ pop duo PandaCorn, Calgary based alt-country band Cold Water featuring Stalwart Sons‘ Kevin Stebner and Hunger Hush
Schedule
Stage A
11 a.m. Blessing
11:15: Taiko Drummers
noon:Junkman‘s Choir
1:05: Stars From Streetlights
2 p.m.: Bent 8
2:50: Gold
4 p.m.: Five Alarm Funk
6 p.m.: Black Mastiff
Stage B
12:30: Lethbridge Girls Rock Camp
1:30: The Yeah Dads
2:30 p.m. Alyssa McQuaid
3:30: Andrew Scott
5:30: Matthew Robinson
A version of this story appears in the Sept. 11,2013 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
