Jeff Evans, owner of On the Corner Music, estimates that he has somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 records boxed up and ready to be tossed out on the pavement outside his Campbell storefront, weather permitting.

The vinyl merchant isn’t giving up on his enterprise. On the contrary, he’s planning to cash in—50 cents at a time. This Saturday is Record Store Day, and while Evans won’t be selling any new albums, he will have plenty of used wax. And, so long as it isn’t raining, he plans to have the bulk of it outside and priced at half a buck each.

Beginning as a small Bay Area-centric event, Record Store Day has become a national phenomenon—growing in popularity year over year, in tandem with the resurgent interest in vinyl records.

The ninth annual celebration of records and record stores is slated to unfold April 16 at independent shops all over the world, including several in Silicon Valley. Some locations will feature in-store performances and appearances from artists. Many more will be selling highly collectable items produced specifically for the vinyl holiday. And others, like On the Corner, will just stick to selling from their stock.

Evans says he has never dealt in new music, but rather in a curated collection of vintage titles. For the 2016 edition of RSD, Evans will have some highly prized gems on sale, like an original, sealed copy of Let it Be by The Beatles; a David Bowie box set; and an original copy of Pink Floyd’s seminal Dark Side of the Moon, complete with the posters and stickers. Also, he won’t be charging sales tax and, of course, there are those 40 to 50 boxes of vinyl which are certain to bear rewarding fruit to audiophiles willing to dig.

On the Corner isn’t the only local shop with deals this Record Store Day. In addition to hosting live in-store DJ sets, San Jose’s Streetlight Records will be opening an hour early—at 10am—and will have coffee and snacks for the diehards waiting in line.

The Bascom Avenue location will have a plethora of new titles, including RSD exclusives. A representative from Streetlight says she can’t guarantee anything, but noted a recent packing list showed the following names: Sublime, David Bowie, Chvrches, The Kinks, Weeknd, Fela Kuti, The Sex Pistols, Notorious B.I.G., mewithoutYou.

The official Record Store Day website names releases from many of the same artists: Sublime, Jah Won’t Pay the Bills (LP and cassette); Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy and Mase, “Mo Money Mo Problems” (colored vinyl 12”); Deftones, B-Sides & Rarities; David Bowie, “The Man Who Sold the World” (picture disc); and Circa Survive and mewithoutYou (7” split).

Rasputin Music, which has stores all over the Bay Area—including in Mountain View and Campbell—will host a performance by Metallica at its Berkeley store. The San Francisco thrash legends helped launch Record Store Day back in 2008, spending a few hours at Rasputin’s Haight Street shop, mingling with fans and signing albums.

Representatives from Rasputin’s South Bay stores couldn’t say exactly what they’d have on sale for the special day, but they did anticipate a high turnout.

Evans, who founded On the Corner Music about 10 years ago, says he is always excited for Record Store Day and is stoked to see more music fans listening to their favorite artists on vinyl.

The vinyl seller recalls his reaction when he first heard about Record Store Day back in 2008. “It was kind of like, ‘Huh? Record Store Day?’” Though he wasn’t sure what to expect back then, he is pleased to see that it has grown.

Over the course of RSD’s nine years, he has had customers come into his shop and tell him that they had gotten rid of a lot of their records and are now hunting them down and buying them all over again—often sharing the experience with their children.

Other local vinyl merchants open for Record Store Day include Needle to the Groove in San Jose and Fremont, The Record Man in Redwood City and The Analog Room in San Jose.

Record Store Day
Apr 16
Valleywide

The long running Bay Area radio station KFJC is bringing its celebrated record swap back to Empire Seven Studios for its second year of a reimagined tradition.

Since its founding in 1959, KFJC has played an integral part in the underground but vibrant Bay Area music scene. Broadcasting from the Foothill College Campus at 89.7 FM, the station has a lengthy tradition of championing boundary-pushing acts, as well as serving as a tastemaking curator for the region.

In addition to helping propel many bands to stardom, KFJC has held an annual record swap on campus for nearly two decades. Last year, in a major shift, the swap was moved to Empire Seven Studios in Japantown, San Jose. This year, it returns to Empire Seven, with the aim of becoming a permanent fixture there.

“It has been a staple in the bay area for many years, and bringing it back is always a good thing, says Leticia Domingo, a current on-air KFJC DJ and former publicist for the station.

This won’t be a flea market affair. Empire Seven Studios, with art on the walls and DJs spinning all day, works to make the swap less of a bartering market and more of a musical learning experience.

“When I first joined the station in 2001-2002, one of the first events I ever went to was a record swap,” says Domingo, better known by her on-air name Ms. Tiza. “It was mostly record labels, and it was a paid event, with early bird specials.”

Seeing the formula as outdated and unfair to newer collectors, Domingo and the station reinvented the record swap—freeing it from the confines of the Foothill Campus and, more important, making it a free event. The idea was to encourage everyone, from the serious veteran collector to the merely curious, to intermingle and learn.

It’s a welcome change. While the swap has been a staple of the Bay Area music scene for decades, the insider vibe meant the event mainly drew an insider crowd. Domingo has stripped away most of that snobbery in order to let the love of music rule. “Now the great thing is you have collectors selling and collectors digging together,” she says.

KFJC Record Swap
Apr 2, 10am-5pm, Free
Empire Seven Studios, San Jose

On April 18, the music industry rises once again to show support for the greatest of all recording formats: vinyl. Many Silicon Valley small businesses—your local record stores—will be participating:

•   Streetlight Records—San Jose, 980 S. Bascom Ave.
•   Rasputin Music—Campbell, 1820 S. Bascom Ave.; Mountain View, 1939 W El Camino Real
•   Needle to the Groove—San Jose, 410 E. Santa Clara St; Fremont, 131 I St
•   The Record Man—Redwood City, 1322 El Camino Real
•   The Analog Room—San Jose—1416 Fruitdale Ave.
•   On the Corner Music—Campbell, 530 E Campbell Ave.

There’s too many special releases to list. Here are three of the most anticipated among the many reissues, picture discs and bootlegs hitting stores this Saturday.

Run The Jewels: S/T 12”
The sleeper hit rap duo of 2014 are contributing a special, limited run 12” EP that comes out on Record Store Day. Atlanta’s Killer Mike and New York’s El-P have contributed some of the most critically acclaimed rap of the past two years, so this record is sure to be in high demand.

Metallica: No Life ’til Leather cassette
The Bay Area heavy metal giants’ demo tape is shrouded in legend at this point, but Metallica are reissuing it as a limited edition cassette available only on Record Store Day. It features early versions of some of the best songs on the classic album Kill ‘Em All, as well as some songs that can’t be found anywhere else. Except, you know, on YoutTube:

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear 7”
Father John Misty exploded this year, rocketing from well-kept secret to bona fide indie rock star. His album I Love You, Honeybear, is an early favorite for Album of the Year. The singer-songwriter is releasing an exclusive acoustic version of the album’s title track in a special heart-shaped 7” record.

For more info on special releases check out the Record Store Day website.