Sundown Records opens in downtown Bemidji
Feb. 10—BEMIDJI — Area vinyl music lovers don't have to wait for the annual Record Store Day to shop for albums. Brothers Peter and Bill McKenzie have opened Sundown Records at 209 Beltrami Ave. NW.
"What I've noticed is that a lot of albums are not available on streaming," Bill McKenzie said. "There are a handful of records we have in the store that you can't find online anywhere. They take stuff off streaming services all the time. If you buy a record, you've got it forever. Digital songs are in the ether. With a record you've got the artwork, you've got something in your hands."
Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1,400 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008.
In Bemidji, Record Store Day has been sponsored for the past six years by Northern Community Radio. This year's event will be held April 20 at Rail River Folk School, and will also direct shoppers to Sundown Records.
The McKenzies, who are originally from Red Lake, have been involved in the regional music scene for many years. They credit their late father, William "Nick" McKenzie, for getting them into the business.
"He was a deejay who put on a lot of youth dances," Bill said. "We kind of grew up being roadies for my dad. The store kind of feels like a culmination of everything we've been working on."
Peter added, "We've been working with artists for at least 20 years. We started in Red Lake and worked with a lot of local rappers up there, and a couple of bands. We moved down here and started a studio at Rail River."
They also had a pop-up record shop at the Rail River Folk School for about a year before looking for a downtown storefront. Sundown Records opened on Oct. 31, 2023.
"Most of our inventory was sourced from garage sales and my personal collection," Peter said. "Or just talking to people, word of mouth."
In addition to vinyl records, the store sells cassettes, compact discs and videos on VHS and laser discs. It also has retro toys such as Transformers and G.I. Joe products.
But the majority of the inventory is vinyl, which has seen a resurgence in popularity recently.
"There are a lot of collectors who come in who have their own setup already and they're kind of picking stuff they're missing out of their collection," Bill said. "But there's also the younger generation getting into physical media, so they don't know what to get or what to look for. We try to guide them. The younger generation is really getting into it."
They say the name they chose for the store is a reflection of that resurgence.
"They said the sun is setting on this media," Bill said, "and we want to make sure that people are still appreciating it."
Sundown Records is open from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
