Some of you may or may not know that I've been teaching a course at the University of Minnesota this semester. It's my first time tackling this kind of work, and it has been invigorating and inspiring and... exhausting. I was pretty naive going into the semester about how much work would be required to put together my lectures. But anyway, summer break is almost here and that portion of my workload is finally lightening up. So why am I telling you all of this? Because I finally (finally!) had time this weekend to shoot some photos for myself. April 21 is Record Store Day (every single year), and it's one of my favorite "holidays." Labels release special editions and all kinds of rare music on vinyl, and in general I love how the community comes out to celebrate these small, struggling local businesses. I make a point of visiting one or two of my favorite shops each year, but this time around I wanted to visit five. I chose the Electric Fetus, Treehouse Records, Hymie's Vintage Records, Fifth Element and Yeti Records.
These shops span a variety of "genres" of customer, but they all have the same details that I love: hand-drawn signage and a good sense of humor about them. Below are a few of my favorite shots of the day.
So next year, you guys should join the party. There's lots of great music, some good food and even live performances around the city -- and it's always fantastic people watching as well!