Alliance Vinyl Club spins into third year
September marks a milestone for Alliance Vinyl Club.
The monthly program dedicated to spinning the favorite records of those in attendance has been in the groove for three years now at Rodman Public Library.
And the beat is stronger than ever.
“My favorite things about Vinyl Club is turning people on to new music they never heard, giving records away (I buy a lot of old collections), and having a program people look forward to coming to each month,” said Byrun Reed, an RPL librarian who facilitates the club.
Reed started the club in 2019 after noticing other libraries around the country were offering similar programs. At first, he wanted to talk about the joys of collecting records and how to organize collections, but he soon figured out, that’s not what the people wanted.
Reed explained it this way: “It was nicely suggested by the people who showed up for Alliance Vinyl Club, ‘Hey, can you just play some tunes?’”
So Reed changed up the way he ran the program, becoming sort of a disc jockey, playing a few selections from his collection and encouraging others to bring in their favorite albums as well to share a few tracks with their fellow collectors.
And a couple times a year, he brings in a special guest – usually a local musician of some renown or someone who writes about music and musicians – to share their stories and music as well.
“Finding guest speakers has been easy with social media,” said Reed. “I’ve been able to befriend local musicians and ask them to participate. Most of them like to tell their stories of what it is like to perform in front of people, writing music, and seeing the fruits of their labor being enjoyed by other music fans.”
For a time, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Alliance Vinyl Club to go virtual, but in-person meetings have been back on the agenda for the past year.
These days, AVC offers those who attend the opportunity to listen to music, hang out and share in good conversation.
And although it is called a club, the meetings are open to the public. There is no formal membership – and no registration required − for the group, which usually meets at 6:30 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month in the conference room at the Main Library.
When Alliance Vinyl Club meets on Sept. 28, it will mark its third anniversary by playing music of the British Invasion, the cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s.
The meeting on Oct. 26 will feature Halloween-themed music.
November’s meeting will be Nov. 16 – the third Wednesday of the month – and will feature guest speaker Chris Butler, an Akron musician who was among a small group of musicians who are considered the inventors of American new wave music. He is best known for leading The Waitresses, a 1980s new wave band whose notable songs include “I Know What Boys Like,” “No Guilt,” “Christmas Wrapping,” and the theme song for the TV sitcom "Square Pegs."
The meeting in December will be Dec. 14 – the second Wednesday of the month – and will feature Christmas music.
For more information about Alliance Vinyl Club, call the Main Library at 330-821-2665, ext. 216.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Alliance Vinyl Club spins into third year
