Greenwood Vinyl Record Shop Is Connecting Generations Through Music

Writer / Suzanne Huntzinger

Photographer / Ron Wise

One Greenwood man is turning his passion for music and vinyl records into a way to connect generations. Danny Lindsey opened his record store, Vinyl Rescue Project, in 2013, with his own personal collection of roughly 8,500 records from all genres and decades.

Walking through the shop isn’t a stroll through a boneyard of old unwanted music — it’s a walk through history. Adorning the walls are dozens of posters from rock ‘n roll artists, country, bluegrass, rap, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even current music of today.

That’s right, do a classic rewind, because I just said albums of today’s current artists. After a long hiatus, the beautiful albums with beloved, gorgeous artistry are making a comeback. That means artists like Adele, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran are making their music available on vinyl.

“Adele had the best-selling vinyl record a few years ago, selling more than 100 thousand copies,” Lindsey says. “We’ve seen this resurgence happening in the last 10 years. Ninety-Five percent of new releases are on vinyl not compact disc, although the print run for these albums isn’t going to be in the millions like Thriller. But stores like Best Buy are phasing out their compact disc section to make way for vinyl.”

That means turntables are being made available for sale as well.

Customers will soon find that 40-50 new releases are coming out each week. Among them are some re-pressings of past albums and even some in colored vinyl, rather than the traditional black vinyl, like the Ten Bands One Cause albums. Now in the fourth year of its initiative, the Ten Bands One Cause project selects 10 bands to re-issue their albums on limited edition pink vinyl. This year’s bands are Metallica, Portugal. The Man, Lord Huron, Dustin Kensrue, Gary Clark Jr, Lucinda Williams, Mastodon, Four Year Strong, Blue October and GWAR. The proceeds from the album sales benefit Gilda’s Club, (in honor of comedian Gilda Radner) which supports cancer patients and their caregivers. The sales of the pink vinyl have already raised more than 145 thousand dollars.

Young listeners are eager to get their hands on these new vinyl releases. It introduces them to the elaborate artistry in an album cover and gives them an appreciation for the audio quality that only vinyl can capture.

“This generation gets its music from downloadable digital files. It doesn’t sound the same as a vinyl record,” Lindsey says. “Digital files are compressed to save space, so you lose quality in that compression. There’s instrumentality that comes out in a record that you won’t hear in a digital file.”

What’s more, digital files have no resale value. Vinyl records do because they’re collectible.

As today’s generation discovers the medium of past generations, they’re also discovering their appreciation for the music of past generations.

“My customers are from a wide range of age groups,” Lindsey says. “I’ve got teenagers that come in looking for new stuff and rock classics, and people in their 20s or 30s up to 50s or 60s looking for anything from rock to bluegrass and the old jazz classics from the 1930s. Sinatra is still popular.”

Lindsey doesn’t try to predict who might listen to what, but he has noticed something important. “Young people are listening to the music of their parents and vice versa,” he says. “It’s connecting generations.”

Vinyl Rescue Project customers and music buffs can indulge in such rare finds as an original print run of Greatest Country and Western Hits from 1956 featuring Elvis, Eddy Arnold, Chet Atkins and Porter Waggoner. The smooth jazz sounds of Miles Davis, Henry Busse and his orchestra, classic rock from Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin, and favorites like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are among the vintage vinyl lining the store. Hidden in the collection is a rare copy of Stacy’s Still Swinging from 1978, the classic children’s drawing of traced hands connected on the cover. Plenty of old 78 discs also fill the record racks.

“It’s history,” Lindsey says,. “At one time, people were willing to pay money for this music.”

The rarity of the album is what drives up the value of the music and makes it more collectible.

“I’ve seen an Elmo Jones record go for $12,000,” Lindsey says. “I’ve also seen some 78s go for thousands of dollars.”

The records in Vinyl Rescue Project are priced to reflect the collectability and market value of records. While most of the albums in the store range from the dollar section to five dollars to $20 or $25, Lindsey has sold an album for $500.

Like his customers, Lindsey has very eclectic tastes.

“I mostly like the classics, but recently I’ve been listening to a lot of bluegrass music,” he says.

No matter what genre Lindsey listens to on a given day, he’ll never lose his passion for vinyl records. He still remembers the first album he bought back in 1960.

“It was Build Me Up, Buttercup by the Foundations,” he says.

While he doesn’t actively add to his personal collection these days, he makes sure that any of the albums he puts out for sale are cleaned up and in good condition.

“I’m known for that,” Lindsey says. “I have a record cleaning machine and people who come in here trust that my records are in great shape.”

Stop in Vinyl Rescue Project today, 520 N State Rd 135 Suite M, Greenwood, and get your vinyl fix. Visit them online at vinyl-rescue-project.com or give them a call at 317-884-6031.

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