Jason Burchaski organizes a vinyl record swap in the Cleveland area each month. He knows exactly what he doesn’t want it to be.
He doesn’t want visitors to pay $5 to enter a stuffy auditorium with folks buying third-rate copies of Styx’s The Grand Illusion. That’s not what fosters a community in 2023. “I don’t want to be stuck in some VFW hall where all you’re going to get is dudes,” he says.
Instead, he and the other organizers of The Cleveland Vinyl Party at The Foundry concert club in Lakewood try to make the events welcoming to newbies and veterans, gearheads and luddites. After all, a lot of collecting worlds — from comics to sports memorabilia to, yes, records — are male dominated. Burchaski, a 50-year-old record collector from Grafton who runs the 3,000-member Facebook group Northeast Ohio Vinyl Club, says he would like to see that change.
The events feature a bevy of local vinyl collectors looking to sell and swap, along with two turntables and a mixer for anyone who wants to DJ for a bit. Meanwhile, those in attendance can grab a beer and wings and, hopefully, relax with like-minded people. “The ones I want to do are free and family-friendly,” Burchaski says. “Dad and kids looking at stuff together. It is a shared experience, finally.”
The monthly vinyl swaps are just one of a series of events that Cleveland-area vinyl lovers can attend. There are also Tuesday nights at The Winchester Music Tavern, where aspiring DJs can sign up to do a 20-minute slot behind the decks.
“As a grown-up, how do you make friends?” says Michelle Wolfe, a frequent attendee of the DJ nights. “It’s a really cool way to meet like-minded people.”
Burchaski says he thinks interest in vinyl, while still growing, has started to plateau. New Facebook group members have shifted away from the uptight, know-it-all collector, toward those who want to share their hobby.
“You’re always going to have your a**holes, but what are you going to do?” Burchaski says. “Once they stop being the norm, it’s cool, and that’s what I think it’s starting to be.”
The next Vinyl Party event is set to take place at the Foundry Concert Club on April 23.
Read more: 14 Record Stores to Check Out in Greater Cleveland
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