The sign says “Rebound Rob’s Rollin’ Records” and the tables
are lined with crates and crates of alphabetized and genre-ly grouped vinyls.
There are even crates sitting on the ground. One side of a table is devoted to
stacks of CD’s and mix tapes. The array of vinyls, CD’s, and mix tapes covers a
large span of 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s music from an expansive (and one could
argue) pretty inclusive scope of genres. “As a musician and music lover, I am
impressed with the wide-range of music selection here,” commented fest
attendee, Todd Logsdon.
In the
age of modern technology with rapid fire downloading speeds for iTunes and
instant uploaded album- status on music sites like Spotify and Pandora, the use
and prevalence of vinyl is often a nostalgic notion of the past. In recent
years however, there has been a revival of the collection and selling of vinyl
records. Rob Marker and Josh Horevay are two men casually contributing in that
revival.
Rob
Marker is no newbie to the world of selling vinyls. He used to own a record
store in Frostburg called Rebound Records
in the mid 90’s to the mid 2000’s. After the closing of his store, he didn’t
sell records for almost ten years. He then got back into it by attending local
festivals such as the Arts’ Walk and Appalachian Festival. At the Arts’ Walk,
he usually sets up inside of Main Street Books, but today he is beneath one of
the dozens of white tents pitched in FSU’s upper quad. “I enjoy selling
records,” remarks Marker, “It’s a hobby.” When asked to comment on the current
technological advances in music and why he prefers vinyls, Marker explains that
sound quality today is just not as good. “I like having the physical thing
[record] in my hand. I use to read the liner notes to find other artists and
bands…it took more effort when I grew up,” says Marker.
Josh
Horevay is a friend of Marker’s and offered to come to Appalachian Festival
since it was a bit bigger in scale. Horevay says he started collecting vinyls
when he was 15 years old. A lot of what he sells is from his personal
collection that he has accumulated over time, but sometimes he buys in bulk off
of other people. Many times there’s a reason that the people are parting with
those records but he remarks that “Sometimes there are some gems in there.” His
collection covers a broad range of genres and includes both well known and
obscure albums. “Around here I’ve had a lot of good luck finding Soul and Jazz
records,” says Horevay. While Horevay admits that the format of vinyl is “not
the most convenient”, he says he “like[s] the search aspect” of finding a good
record.
When
asked about their ideal goal for their operations, both men replied that what
they do is more out of enjoyment than profit; more hobby than business. “The
goal is to buy and sell more records,” laughs Marker and among the countless
crates and numerous customers, it’s safe to say both gentlemen are achieving
just that.
Want me info on these two men and their vinyl collections?
Click below to visit their Facebook pages!
https://www.facebook.com/TomorrowsPeopleRecords/timeline?ref=page_internal
– Josh Horevay
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