Stretching Out...
 

We belong to a peer group of like-minded indie music stores called the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS). We share information, ideas and band together (pun intended) to fight for what we believe is our place and our customers' rights and needs in what has become a difficult modern-day music industry. This is how we've been able to, for instance, provide the many value-added CDs, DVDs, posters, etc (see "CONTESTS and SWAG" below) and the indie-only exclusive releases that you've come to expect from Vinyl Fever.
Last week the group got together in Cincinnati (home of fabulous member store Shake It Records) to brainstorm, share war stories and generally revitalize with fresh ideas for our stores (we did some drinking and saw some great live music, too!). Let me tell you, there were some awfully smart people in the room and we were learning a LOT. As if this wasn't enough, our Group's leader (Eric from Criminal Records in Atlanta) began to shake with emotion as he introduced a "surprise special guest" who was to join us for lunch. Eric spoke of how he (Eric) had waited outside this artist's tour bus some 20+ years ago, had gotten his bass signed and received some very inspirational words- words that inspired him to open his store a year later and eventually landed us all in the room we were sharing at this very moment. We were told that the special guest was running a tad late because he had to sign ~ 60 autographs upstairs, in the lobby- everyone in Cincinnati knows and respects what this person has done for the community.
Bootsy Collins proved to be about the most down to earth person one could ever meet. He told us that what we do with music within our community is important and gave us all the kind of inspirational words he had given Eric 20 years before. I have to admit that I'm getting verklempt thinking about and writing this and I hope you can always feel us working to make Vinyl Fever the kind of store that has been something of a source of spirituality to many people. We appreciate and need your support more than ever these days and hope you'll continue to join with us as we take Bootsy's advice and keep the funk alive!

Bootsy's Wikipedia 

 CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS
 Concert Tix & High Quality Swag

we have a pair of tickets we're giving away to this year's Bonnaroo Festival (a $400 value)!! Enter to win and you could be going to see The Police and literally hundreds of other amazing bands like Wilco, The White Stripes, The Flaming Lips, Tool, Ornette Coleman, Kings of Leon, Feist, Decemberists, Manu Chao, Gillian Welch, Spoon, Richard Thompson, Tortoise, and so on and so on... There's a box at the store, but we'll enter you if you write to us at contest@vinylfevertampa.com with *BONNAROO* in the subject line. Don't forget to include your name and phone #;

to WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS to see BLOC PARTY on 5/28, write to us at blocparty@vinylfevertampa.com and give us your name and phone number. TRIPLE YOUR CHANCES by purchasing any Bloc Party cd (or LP) here! We'll stuff the entry box with your name THREE TIMES!
a winner will also get a very nice Dakine bag featuring the Bloc Party logo!

write to us at contest@vinylfevertampa.com, give us your name and phone number. and we'll enter you to win a Gibson Epiphone guitar autographed by Sick Puppies! You can enter this one at the store, too and see the guitar on display;

an Elvis Costello picture sleeve 7" of unreleased demos can be had by the folks to buy one of the reissues or compilation cd that came out May 1.

We Thank You and So Does Jeff Tweedy 

 LEGENDARY CHARLIE LOUVIN WILL PERFORM HERE!
 Sunday, June 3rd, With His Band!

Sunday, June 3rd, 2pm:
THE LEGENDARY CHARLIE LOUVIN- RIGHT HERE WILL BE HIS ONLY TAMPA APPEARANCE!
Man are we excited! There aren't many country music icons left nowadays and the few there are don't allow for many retail music visits. On June 3rd, Vinyl Fever Tampa is truly honored to be hosting an in-store performance AND meet and greet with the legendary Charlie Louvin of the Louvin Brothers.

Born in 1927 (that's right, he will be 80 years old in July), Charlie Louvin and his brother Ira started performing in 1940 and soon were recording for Apollo, Decca and MGM Records. The group's progress was stopped twice as Charlie left the group to fight in both World War II AND the Korean War. Soon after, the Louvins were made members of the Grand Ole Opry, toured with Elvis Presley as their OPENING act and signed with Capitol Records where they would remain until 1963. Ira Louvin was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1965.

The music and legend of the Louvin Brothers has lived on as generations of Americana/ Roots musicians have discovered and paid homage to the Louvin's music. Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Uncle Tupelo and current indie rockers The Raconteurs are just a few who have covered The Louvin Brothers' music.

2007 has brought the first solo release from Charlie Louvin in 10+ years and it is a monster which features guest performances with George Jones, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare Jr. as well as members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop and Superchunk.

Don't miss American musical treasure and hero Charlie Louvin when he performs live at Vinyl Fever on Sunday, June 3rd at 2:00pm.

If space becomes limited, then those folks who purchase the Charlie Louvin cd in advance will be given priority entrance. Mr. Louvin will be signing copies of his new cd, 'Charlie Louvin' after the performance.

This will be his ONLY appearance in Tampa!

Charlie Talks About Cheap Trick & More! 

 MAY FEATURES
 April Showers have brought May Flowers

Bright Eyes *Cassadaga
Conor Oberst chronicles his travels around the country and articulates his sense of history in the landscape. Oberst's impassioned prose is still recognizable in every track and the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration, and, at times, sprawling, psychedelic atmospherics.

Madlib *The Other Side-Los Angeles
The fifth installment in the series features Madlib for an audio tour of the City of Angels and on the dvd, Stones Throw's own Peanut Butter Wolf is the visual guide for your LA tour. The dvd includes a full length interview with PB Wolf about the 10 year anniversary of Stones Throw as well as videos from several other Stones Throw artists.

Tori Amos *American Doll Posse
Tori Amos has led the charge in rejuvenating the era of the female singer songwriter and continues to be one of the most intriguing and respected artists of our time.

Feist *The Reminder
When not helping her friends, Feist, who had spent her teenage years in a Calgary punk band singing so hard that she damaged her vocal cords, was recording songs of her own. The material did not sound much like the noisy, epic songs she had been playing in Toronto as a member of the Broken Social Scene. --Sasha Frere Jones

Nine Inch Nails *Year Zero
"This record is much more of a sound collage than recent efforts from me. A lot of it was improvised. It will sound different after a few listens. You can think about it and it will reveal more than you were expecting. You can dance to a lot of it. "--Trent Reznor