Lucas Bettcher and his dad Trevor drove 170 kilometers from Salmon Arm to Penticton for today's 2019 Okanagan Vinyl Fest at the Penticton Seniors' Drop-In Centre.
And they were glad they did. They arrived early and paid a bit extra for the "early bird" hour between 9 and 10 a.m., and then each walked away with an ample bagful of LPs.
We asked Lucas, a well-spoken 16-year-old kid, why someone who's pretty much grown up with the convenience of audio streaming would opt for old-school vinyl.
"I got a record when I was ten," he said, crediting his dad for giving him the idea in the first place. "So I thought I'd try it out. And then I got a trashy record player. And then I put on the record and something clicked in my brain. It just felt right."
He says it's like having a book collection. "It's no different than grabbing your favourite book, opening it to the page you were last reading, and then reading. It's the action of going through that process that makes it so rewarding."
Today, Lucas bought records by Queen, The Doors, Blue Oyster Cult, The Animals, The Beatles, and The Kinks. All stuff that was recorded some thirty to forty years before he was born.
The Bettchers were two of perhaps a couple hundred people to hit the Festival today in the early bird hour. Another was Kelly Hussey of Penticton, who said it's all a matter of "First come, first served. I wanted to get in there early and get the best choice."
Hussey, who attended the event to "buy some older country for my mom," opened up his bag to reveal records by Hank Williams, Willy Nelson, and Merle Haggard, among others. Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" was in there too, though we suspect that was for Hussey's own collection.
Today was the eighth edition of the festival, which isn't just a great place to find cool and collectable records. It's also the primary annual fundraiser for community radio station Peach City Radio.
And this year, for the first time ever, the station broadcasted the event live on FM. And Peach City Radio co-founder Dave Del Rizzo was the DJ for that first key hour.
"There were a lot of people in that first hour despite the higher price," he said later. "They get the first pick of the litter, and that's huge when you're talking about vinyl."
"You come here for those records you're missing in your collection. And this is the largest collection of vinyl in Penticton all year long."
Del Rizzo is a record fanatic like most of the Peach City staff. But he freely admits he also streams music when he's at home, thus proving the two can peacefully co-exist.
"But," he says, "if I'm relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, I'll throw on a record. The thing about vinyl, it forces you to be involved, to really feel the music. You've made a decision. It's not just background sounds."
Del Rizzo says that Peach City Radio, with its new 92.9 FM presence and seemingly with some momentum, has plans to grow the event "into a more well-rounded activity. Maybe a week of celebration around community radio."
As Del Rizzo spoke, John Gowland of Kelowna, one of several event vendors, busied himself selling records. Gowland calls his business "That Old Black Magic Record and Stereo Sales," and wanted Kelownians to know he'll be hosting the Okanagan's next big vinyl shindig, the Kelowna Record Show.
It'll happen March 29th at the Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall at 1091 Coronation Avenue in Kelowna.
After a little more browsing, we bid adieu to the 2019 Vinyl Fest. The place was still buzzing.
