I ran into Ashley over the weekend. She had the baby with her. It had been some time since last I saw them—about a year, in fact. It was good to see them.
"He keeps us busy," she said.
"I wouldn't be able to do it."
"I don't know how Alan does it everyday. He's my hero."
"I bet."
"So, what's new with you?"
Everything seems very superficial when placed alongside raising a child, but I answered anyway: "Oh, nothing much. Work is good. I've been pretty obsessed with vinyl lately."
"Really? I heard Iris is having a big sale this weekend."
"Oh god. I'm going to pretend like I didn't even hear you say that. I'm going broke from buying new records."
We talked a bit more. All the while, I couldn't wait to visit Iris.
"Well, we better get going."
"Alright. Tell Alan I said hello."
"We will."
Iris Records is at 114 Brunswick Street, between 1st and 2nd—right next door to Bryan Beninghove's old place, where the band practiced on Saturday mornings. These were my favorite days. It always seemed to be warm and sunny. Waking up and walking on over to the practice space with a coffee in one hand and my guitar in the other, nothing else to do but make music. Afterwards, we might stop by the Lamp Post for burgers and beers. Good, good times. And so I walked by Iris on many occasions, but only stopped in once. For two simple reasons:
2. I didn't have a turntable. Both of these things have now changed. The announcement reads:
IRIS RECORDSThe store hours are still a little odd. The store won't be open again until next Friday and Saturday, June 20th and 21st, from noon to around 7pm. However, starting July 18th, the plan is to make things a bit more predictable. Iris' owner realizes that there's a growing demand for vinyl, and he wants to help meet that demand. The new, weekly store hours will be: Friday, 3-9pm
We are offering very rare and out-of-print store hours!
Saturday, 1-7pm
Sunday, 1-5pm I am praying that the prices remain the same. Pray with me, please. Marked items were either $5 or $10. Most items, however, were curiously unmarked. All unmarked items were simply $1 or $2, depending. Depending on what? Who cares? I bought a Lita Branda album on sexy red vinyl for a buck; El Gran Combo's 5 for two; a clean Columbia 6-eye pressing of Miles' Kind of Blue for five. Good, good times. "I'll definitely be back," I told the helpful clerk. "And I'll tell my friends."
