April 21 marks Record Store Day in the U.S. and countries worldwide, and now it will mark a special day for residents of Columbus. The Columbus City Council has declared April 21 as Columbus Music Day, in recognition of local music, musicians and artists.
Vince Tornero, founder of the In The Record Store podcast and magazine, is the force behind the creation of the holiday, and the exclusive vinyl to be released on the same day.
“We want to help people get to know more about Columbus music. And to help do that, we wanted to get the attention of city government, because they’re kind of the spine of this city,” says Tornero.
Getting a holiday declared depends on who you know, Tornero says. He approached Michael Brown, city council chief of staff and member of the Columbus Downtown Commission, among other boards, about making April 21 Columbus Music Day, and Brown took it from there.
“I figured if we want people to recognize Columbus music more, and the intense, hard work that people put into the local music scene then let’s get a holiday to mark it,” Tornero says.
Tornero is also heading 2500 Summit Street, a limited vinyl featuring music by four local bands and artists: MojoFlo, a funk and soul band; Mistar Anderson, a hip-hop group; Damn The Witch Siren, an electric pop duo; and Zoo Trippin, a blues/rock/funk-hop band.
Like the holiday, Tornero says putting the vinyl together was a collaborative process. He says he first got the idea two years ago, but the project really started to come together the second half of 2017.
The vinyl was produced at Oranjudio Recording Studio in Grandview Heights, with producer Joey Gurwin. Brian Lucey, who has worked with The Black Keys, among others, helped master the records.
“In reality, this type of vinyl should take, say, at most probably a year to put together,” Tornero says. “We started recording the end of November, and it was done within a month.”
Tornero decided to release the vinyl on Record Store Day, and now Columbus Music Day, because the day is a big deal in Columbus. “If you step back, and you look at the vinyl culture in Columbus, there’s some great, great record stores and the vinyl will be available in most of those stores,” he says. “That is the vinyl collectors Christmas, shall we say.”
Tornero hopes that Columbus Music Day, and 2500 Summit Street‘s release, will validate local music, and make people pay attention to the hard work local musicians put into their craft.
“When somebody has such a passion for a craft it should be recognized,” he says. “Don’t discount Columbus music, and take some time to expand your palate.”
In The Record Store is holding a release show for 2500 Summit Street on April 21 at Ace of Cups. For more information visit intherecordstore.com.