Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
As we previewed last night (when music fans were already getting in line), doors opened at 7 am this morning at Easy Street Records for the biggest day of the year: Record Store Day.
We stopped by at 7:40 am, when the line was still wrapped around the block past the Wells Fargo parking lot on 44th Ave SW:
The weather was clear and pleasant and spirits were high:
Many of those in line told us that their shopping list included the “Brandi Carlile Live at Easy Street Records Volume II” record (a followup to the Grammy winner’s first live album recorded at the store almost 20 years ago). The album contains recordings from her band’s performance at Easy Street last October (WSB coverage here). Yesterday, the band stopped by the store and signed the wall.
This morning, owner Matt Vaughan (pictured below with the aforementioned wall poster and coveted album) told us that the morning had gone smoothly thus far (“we’ve got it down pretty well!” he chuckled) and that the first purchase of the day was (unsurprisingly) the Brandi Carlile album, with other hot titles including exclusive releases from Taylor Swift, Olivia Dean, Jeff Buckley, Thin Lizzy, Paramore, Dijon and more:
Vaughan’s pocket list of popular RSD items:
Customers entered through the cafe and were guided upstairs, where vinyl department guru Andy was holding court and helping people find what they were hunting for:
The most popular titles are going fast, but the store will be open all day. At 4 pm today, Geoff Whitman will be on-hand to sign his new Pearl Jam photobook.
BONUS PHOTOS: Music fans Dan and Joanie Jacobs (from the Admiral Neighborhood Association) were among those in line, and they sent us earlier photos of Vaughan handing out the traditional “Record Store Day bacon” to the crowd (free coffee was available at the corner as well)
