An Introduction to Me... Brian

So you've stumbled upon this blog, likely because you love vinyl records like I do. That's awesome! Thank you so much for stopping by.  Now I am sure you are wondering to yourself, "Who is Brian?" and more importantly "Why should I read his blog?" Well, this is where I introduce myself and sell my blog to you.

As you've probably guessed, my name is Brian and I am a vinylholic (is that even a word?).  I have been a music fan since I can remember.  It's always pulled me in and from many directions.  My dad was a guitar player when he was younger (still is) and he loved music.  At the age of 8, he bought an acoustic guitar and began to teach me how to play.  It didn't stick at the time, but we will circle back to that in a few years time.  My mother played the piano and in fifth and sixth grade I took piano lessons.  Sadly, I stopped after sixth grade, but all was not lost because by age twelve I was once again in love with the guitar; this time it stuck!


Anyway, we are getting off course.  I was a child of the 80s and a teen of the 90s, and the music was always important.  In my early years, I collected cassette tapes of my favorite bands, and artists.  In my teens, it was on to CDs like most people.  Even though the media was shifting we always had a turntable in the house, and my dad had a nice selection of records from the Mamas and the Papas, the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and of course Eric Clapton.  In my room, I had a stereo system that also included a turntable, so from time to time I would bring up one of my dad's records and play it.  My uncle also had a stash of great vinyl that he kept at my grandma and grandpa's house.  We went there every Sunday after church, and soon I was digging through his collection and bringing two or three albums home a week to listen to, returning them the next week, and coming back with another few to listen to.  His collection included albums by Black Sabbath, Rush, Def Leppard, and REO Speedwagon.  I was in heaven because as a kid I didn't have the income to just go out and purchase these albums on CD (vinyl sadly wasn't found anywhere).

As the 90s moved forward and records were harder and harder to come by, I remember how thrilled I was in the mid-90s to find copies of AC/DC's Razors Edge and Skid Row's self-titled debut in a music store for basically free.  Those were the first two vinyl records I ever owned, and they still sit in my collection to this day.

At this point in the story, we need to fast forward a little bit.  In the middle, I graduated high school, graduated college, got a real job, got married, and had three kids.  That brings us to about 2014 or so and I am in a new job meeting new people.  One of them is an audiophile who loves all things audio, including vinyl.  We get to talking and he has a bunch of records he owns and invites me to go with him to a local record store.  It was like stepping back in time and almost immediately I am hooked.

We dug through bin after bin and I walked out with a handful of albums I found, but we had a problem.  I didn't own a record player anymore. How was I going to play them? Well, I did what many do and asked for a simple record player for Christmas.  I got a Crosley suitcase, and I was finally able to listen to my records.  Anyone who has owned one of these players knows that it sounds like crap, and we won't get into it about the quality of these units.  Immediately I knew I needed something better and began my search.  A few months later I bought an Audio Technica AT-LP60 turntable and hooked it up to my current system at home and was in business. That was 2015, and since then, my collection has grown by about twelve times what it was at the start of 2015.

In 2017, I found some groups that love vinyl as much as I do.  Not only has that connected me with a great community of people who love music and vinyl, but also has cost me a ton of money in new vinyl that I just had to have after seeing it in a post.  But hey, that's the love of vinyl.

My musical tastes are all over the place.  Hair metal and hard rock are my sweet spot, but I also love pop, folk, and country.  I hope to highlight some of my favorite albums as we go forward with this blog. Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me, but if you want to know more just shoot me a message on my Facebook page.  Till then, keep on spinning my friends.


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