TRURO, N.S. – A Truro business has dropped its needle in the vinyl record market, giving local collectors a new place to get their vintage music fix.
Tucked away in a white house just outside the downtown area, Vinyl Variety gives music lovers a reason to dust off their old turntables and expand their collection with the latest and greatest in old-school records.
“There is probably two or three dozen reasons why people are going back to vinyl,” said Jeff Amon, owner of Vinyl Variety.
“When streaming came in, it meant no physical medium was superior to the other; they were all obsolete to downloading, but the demand for vinyl was always around. There were always people who wanted the physical form of music, the collectability and experience of it.”
Since opening Nov. 5 at 17 Walker St., Vinyl Variety has seen a steady stream of collectors, audiophiles and newbie record lovers come through the doors. They browse collection of new, re-released and original tapes and records.
“I’m only five months into it, but I’m seeing the potential for us to be here for a long time,” said Amon.
“We’ve had a good response so far since opening. Truro is a good market, and it’s a better market than most people give it credit for.”
The business sells both new and used vinyl records, CDs and tapes.
“We do special orders all the time too,” Amon said. “So If someone doesn’t find what they are looking for on their shelves, we can probably get it in.”
The shop provides a wide variety of music genres, all separated in their own sections, from classic rock, to punk, to hip-hop and even country. They also have a few local artists on their shelves, allowing them to sell their albums at the storefront by consignment.
Vinyl Variety also carries the equipment needed to listen to vinyl records, including a handful of different turntables and needles, but depending on the sound you want, getting into vinyl from scratch can be costly.
“A lot of people say they got a record player from their uncle or something, and now they’re into it, so they started for free,” said Amon.
“If you want a really good system though, you’d be looking at a few hundred dollars at least on an amp, speakers and a turntable. That used to be a big thing, who had the best system, but I think it takes the fun out of it.”
While Amon has experience in record collecting himself, every day is a learning experience when it comes to the latest trends and must-haves in the vinyl market.
Although he can draw from an entire record store, he still manages to find albums he hasn’t listened to before, such as Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.
“I spun it the other day and it was the first time I had ever heard the whole thing all the way through,” he said.
“I’ve listened to the greatest hits, and I’ve heard some stuff off his other albums, but I never heard the whole thing before. I loved it. Dylan has this James Brown ability to make it seem like he wasn’t recording a prewritten song, but was sort of performing in the moment, on the spot.”
