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Island record show will indulge the audiophile lifestyle

Organizers expect dealers to bring about 20,000 records to Comox Valley event
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Organizers Keith Parry, Dave Read and Jack Tieleman are putting on their inaugural record show for the Comox Valley on Sunday, Oct. 27 at the Comox Valley Curling Club. Photo by Mike Chouinard

Island music fans will have the chance to boost their collections later this month with the Inaugural Comox Valley Record Show.

It’s happening on Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Comox Valley Curling Club in the upstairs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event represents the efforts of Keith Parry, the manager of the curling club, and Jack Tieleman and Dave Read, who have been organizing record shows in Nanaimo for several years. Parry, himself, still operates mail-order record sales from an enormous collection he has stored in Black Creek.

“I’ll be selling records till I’m dead or have a big fire,” he says.

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The event is being hosted by the Black Dot, Scratch Records and CVGBs. All three organizers have deep ties to music. Parry is a musician and operated a store and label, Scratch, in Vancouver for years. Tieleman and Read run a shop, Black Dot, and an art space, White Room, though they add their Nanaimo operation is kind of semi-secret, only open at set times. Tieleman and Read have put out records through their respective labels Lance Rock and Noiseagonymayhem. Read also runs Vinyl Record Guru, a manufacturing company that specializes in vinyl records. The two started holding shows in Nanaimo that, even from the outset, were more popular than expected, and they have had to move shows to bigger venues.

“People just love records,” Tieleman says. “It’s like with any addiction. You become a user, then you become a dealer.”

When he was in the Comox Valley for the music festival in the summer, he thought about the curling club and pitched the idea to Parry.

“I kind of said yeah, like immediately,” Parry laughs.

For the event, they expect vendors from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Some might have dollar records, some might have $50 records, imports or rare pressings – in other words, there should be something for all tastes and budgets.

In all, vendors will be spread out over 25 to 30 tables. With about 800 records a table, they anticipate people can rifle through at least 20,000 records during the show, plus more titles if people are selling other formats. As well, another vendor will be bringing vintage rock concert posters, and while vinyl is the medium of choice among most collectors these days, the organizers have seen a resurgence of the compact disk.

“I’m a big fan of CDs, I’ve been saying that for a while,” says Read.

Music collectors might even see a few cassettes and 8-tracks at the event.

It’s no surprise the organizers have deep attachments to music, and everyone has that record that got them hooked. Read, for example, remembers finding an old photo of himself checking out a copy of the Beatles’ Revolver when he was about 11.

The Comox Valley Record Show should allow other music fans to indulge their interest or even line up a few new recruits to the audiophile lifestyle. Tieleman recalls a mom who brought her son to one show, and all he wanted was old jazz 78s, or a 15-year-girl at another show searching for free-form jazz records.

The shows are also just a good chance for music fans to get together and talk about what they’ve found and what they’re looking for. Then, of course, there’s always that hope of finding some old nugget.

“That’s the fun thing when you get a room full of records, you just never know what’s there,” Tieleman says.

There is more information about the record show on Facebook under the Inaugural Comox Valley Record Show. Admission is $2, or free for kids under 12. There is free parking and the kitchen and bar will be open.