PAPA RAY'S VINTAGE VINYL ROADSHOW

#301 Jamaica
By the early 1970s, Papa Ray was a fan of Jamaica’s contribution to world music, REGGAE. But he found out Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff were only two examples of the talent this tiny island in the Caribbean had to offer. Having released and curated Reggae music on his store’s label and for the international Trojan imprint, our crew goes to Kingston to check out the vibe and where things are going in the home of SKA, ROOTS, REGGAE, and DANCEHALL. We’ll be visiting shoppes including Rockers International Records, African Symbol Studio & Record Shop, and Music Mart. We’ll also stop by Tuff Gong International Distribution on Marcus Garvey Avenue.

#302 New Orleans
Tom and Vintage Vinyl have a unique relationship with one of the finest record stores in New Orleans, Euclid Records. Learn about their history, as we also visit other stellar independent shops, such as Domino Sound Record Shack. Each unique, each with their own style, yet fitting perfectly and reflecting the culture of The Big Easy. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised with some music veterans that visit these stores, such as Irma Thomas, The Neville’s, Trombone Shorty, and Kermit Ruffin ---They have seen it all ---and in New Orleans, that says multitudes.

#303 Chicago
Our crew goes to the Windy City stopping by Dusty Grooves, Shuga’s, Out Of The Past, and a store that really beckons to the past, Beverly’s. Chicago’s record stores have survived the mass merchandisers who used the top titles of the day as ‘loss leaders’. They have a scrappy reputation: as one store owner put it, “We’re all individuals, we’re not joiners –we couldn’t even put together a record shoppe baseball league in the city ---We’re just too damn competitive.” A distinctive city with iconic distinctive stores.

#304 Washington DC
Papa Ray and the crew are thrilled to see Byrdland, located in a multi-cultural section of Washington D.C. Byrdland thrives as a vinyl focused store plugged into the local music scene, enjoying many in-stores and Meet & Greets. We then head on over to Smash Records - a staple for punk and hardcore music lovers since 1984, and then we visit Som Records, a hidden gem located in a basement under a barber shop and is known for its eclectic collection, including samba, salsa, and rare collectibles.

#305 Florida
While in Florida, we begin our vinyl journey in Florida’s West Coast, home of Daddy Kool Records, opened in 1985, built as Tampa Bay’s best in new releases for vinyl, CDs, and cassettes. We then head on over to Banana Records, who claims to have the largest vinyl collection in the world – 3.5 million records along with a separate store specializing in audio equipment. Tom and the crew couldn’t leave the state without going to Miami to check out their indie stores such as Sweat Records, Yesterday & Today Records, as well as Technique Records.

#306 Rochester, NY
We end Season 3 visiting Rochester NY, the home of the impressive 13,000 square foot store, Record Archives. Celebrating his 50th year, owner and musician Richard Storms has one of the most impressive stores we’ve ever seen, also having a live music venue and bar called the Backroom Lounge. We also go to Bop Shop Records, renowned for the high quality of their used vinyl – the selection goes from Ska, Punk, as well as Blues, Soul, and Funk. And before we left, we couldn’t miss going to The Hi-Fi Lounge, once known as THE CD EXCHANGE - which has had its doors open for over thirty years.