To Have and to Hold: My Vinyl Year

The internet finds out what you like and sends you more of it. I didn’t actively seek out a traveling record show, but I apparently had clicked on enough vinyl-related things to inspire Instagram to send a Record Riots ad my way.  It’s a traveling “show” that entails a rented room, fold-out tables, and fanatics selling their wares to other fanatics. It reminded me of the baseball card shows that I attended as a kid in the 80s—lots of hands digging through lots of crates…a few select rarities on display behind the table…and the feeling that you are glimpsing your potential future self: If I persist with this stuff, I might one day be on the other side of the table. This particular event was at a fire station tucked away in the suburbs of Frederick, Maryland. Other Record Riots take place up and down the east coast. I met a friend in the parking lot, and we both questioned whether we’d gotten the address right. Then we heard music. Someone was playing Wet Leg on a boombox. We walk...