Carrboro residents visit annual record show

The sound is fuller and warmer. The records are artistic and classic. And it’s tradition.

Those and other reasons drew community members such as graduate student Heather Wilson to the ninth annual Carrboro CD and Record Show at the Carrboro Century Center.

Wilson said she owns 600 vinyl records, which is little compared to her friend, who has more than 4,000.

“My family collected vinyl. That’s why I started collecting them, too,” she said.

About 100 people were browsing vinyl records and music memorabilia Sunday afternoon.

Wilson, who mixes for WXYC, said she planned to have a listening party featuring music from her new purchases.

“Vinyls are real pieces of art,” said Gerry Williams, the organizer of the fair.

The event featured music from various genres, from 1950s rockabilly to soul music.

Among the vinyls and CDs, posters, photographs and other memorabilia like an Elvis Presley Russell Stover Christmas chocolate box were also available for purchase.

Most of the sellers were professionals from across the East Coast. Tim Harris, a seller from Lynchburg, Va., said he has been in the business for 20 years and enjoys selling records in Carrboro.

“It is a very diverse area, and there are only few places in the country where you can find such an eclectic crowd,” he said. “My DJ friend, Mark, had enough support to mix Indian music once a week in the Triangle.”

Other oddity records were for sale. In a box labeled “Dumb Real,” Harris included records like “Canine Heart Sounds” or “If a Bomb Falls: A Recorded Guide To Survival.”

“I just like to collect odd stuff like that,” Harris joked. “I am a weirdo.”

Caleb Coppola, a 25-year-old drummer and construction worker from Pittsboro, bought two records of rare 1970s Jamaican reggae music. He said he values vinyl records more than CDs because of their durability.

Most of the records cost between $5 and $15, although rare records, like the 1963 first pressing of “Introducing the Beatles,” were priced at about $200.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.