With a show of hands, how many of you out there recall heading down to the record shop with your friends on a Saturday afternoon to pick up the latest disc from your favourite band? Was it Sam the Record Man, A&A, HMV or Record World? Maybe you had a favourite local shop like Winnipeg’s Into the Music, Blast Off Records in Moncton or Poptones in Niagara Falls.
The new kid on the record store block keeping that old-school vibe alive in Edmonton is Permanent Records. The “block” in question would be the Whyte Ave. strip in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona neighbourhood. Three of the five main indie record shops in town, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Sound Connection and Permanent Records, are along Whyte Ave. The remaining two, Listen Records and Freecloud Records, are both north of the Saskatchewan River. Each has a niche that creates a camaraderie among shops. Past purveyors of music, Southside Sound and Megatunes, have both met their demise.
When Megatunes went under a few years ago, three of its employees banded together to open up Permanent Records. When it comes to music, Mike McDonald, Clint Anderson and Dave Gawdynukare lifers for sure. You’d have to be, to tackle the seemingly declining business of selling music.
Since Sam’s, A&A and Record World are no longer in business, these indie shops become infinitely more valuable for music fans looking for the tangible, real record experience. To be a blues fan in this new digital world finds that experience diminished considerably. Music is by no means less available in the digital age. On the contrary, virtually lost and almost forgotten treasures are resurfacing every day through the magic of the web. iTunes may have a gazillion songs but does it have any soul?
Putting the music physically into the hands of a blues fan, therein lies the joy of running a record shop for proprietor, McDonald.
When it comes to being a band out on the road, winning fans and hoping they can somehow find your music hits pretty close to home for McDonald. He spent the better part of his youth as the leader of seminal country punk band, Jr. Gone Wild.
Does Permanent Records have the goods when it comes to the blues? According to our very own man of the blues world, Holger Petersen, host of CBC’s Saturday Night Blues, Permanent has the best selection in town.