April 20 might be the biggest music day in North Texas this year. We have Untapped Fest in Fort Worth, Har Mar Superstar will turn Bryan Street Tavern into the area's best dance party and Dada will have some of the best local hip-hop in the area. 4/20 is also the date of of this years' annual Record Store Day, sort of a Christmas for music nerds who love exclusive/limited releases, and as per tradition several local record shops are throwing parties in conjunction of the event.
Much like our area's record shops, these events are varied and tailored to each shop's general taste, which makes it hard to figure out which event you want to attend. So to save you from slogging through Facebook event pages we've gathered all the shows we could find and put them in one place for you. Below you'll find a town-by-town breakdown of shops that are having events.
Denton
So far the only artist announced is Portland, Maine's Kurt Baker, who will perform an acoustic set mostly made up of songs from his 2012 release Brand New Beat. Expect more bands to be added to this event as we get closer, as Mad World has been known to throw a solid all-day party since the shop's inception in 2011.
Recycled Books has put together line-up of Denton musicians to perform on Saturday. Denton staples, and recent touring mates, Ryan Thomas Becker and Tony Ferraro highlight a group of Denton's best acts that also includes Mariachi Quetzal, and Fox and Bird. In typical Recycled fashion they have decided to turn Record Store Day into a full bore Customer Appreciation extravaganza and will be offering 15% off on all merchandise in the store Friday through Sunday. That's 15% off every book, CD, Blu-Ray, DVD, and LP in the store.
Fort Worth
For those of you heading to Untapped Fest, you might want to make a detour before going to Panther Pavilion and stop by Doc's for some free beer, food and music. Doc's line-up is pretty Fort Worth-centric and features performances from Sealion, Toy Gun, Pinkish Black, Vorvon, New Science Projects, Mailman and my current favorite local act, Doom Ghost. As a bonus, Doc's features one of the most knowledgable and friendly record store staffs you'll ever encounter. They're more then happy to help you go crate digging for that Wham! record you're looking for.
Dallas
To celebrate propritor Bill Wisener's 69th birthday, the shop will host 27 acts during their noon to 8 celebration. Performers include Mr. Troll, Turbo Motorhome, Ladybugs, Southern Karma, J.D. Cobb and 22 other acts who will be strumming acoustic guitars and singing about the South/heartland. This is defintly the mellowest choice of the day.
The biggest party of them all returns as Good Records celebrates its 13th birthday with an all-star local selection of groups that features performances from the much buzzed-about The Relatives, A.Dd+, Blackstone Rangers, Vulgar Fashion, Myopic, Bashe, War Party, Shinyribs, Whiskey Folk Ramblers, Cutter, Datahowler, Dark Rooms and Unconscious Collective. Local DJ Crew Track Meet will be providing the outdoor soundtrack throughout the day and the beer should be flowing freely. This is one of the best events we have in Dallas and is something you can't miss as you never know who will show up or what will happen.
CD Source's party will feature assorted eats from Greenville Ave. neighbors Piggy Pies,Ghangis Grill, Freebirds, Raising Cane's, Baker Bros., Pot Belly and Royal Thai. Performances by The Fox and The Bird, -Topic, Home by Hovercraft, The Venetian Sailors and Dead Flowers highlight the event.
Crown & Harp
In non-Record Store, Record Store Day events, it seems that the Crown & Harp has decided to have a night time Record Store celebration with some local acts. Headlined by the always intriguing Soviet, this event will also feature a performance by the band with the best name in the area. Not Fugazi. Hormones, Oddlot, and Rocket Arm round out the free show.
Note: If you know of any please leave a comment with information and we will update this post as we get closer to the 20th.
