Evolution has moved beyond biology and toward technology.
New days bring new advances, rendering useless the wonders of yesteryear. In film, VHS fell to the DVD, which fell to Blu-Ray, which will soon fall to Netflix. While music has largely pushed toward the digital era, the technology of the past still lingers today through records. Vinyl, once a relic of the early age of audio, has remained in the collections of music aficionados.
From these underground libraries, audiophiles have come together for public listening parties. Naked Vinyl, a labor of love from Kern Courtney, is a monthly gathering where record fans meet, bringing personal vinyl favorites to play for the party. The events have been happening for a few years, originally started at the Naked Bean Coffee Shop. During the café’s limbo, however, Naked Vinyl found a new home at Marilynn’s Place with an occasional visit back to the Naked Bean.
With the help of archivist Chris Brown, Courtney leads the attendees on a thematic trip through his personal collection of music.
“I bought a large amount of records from a friend of mine, and his charge to me was that the music be heard,” said Courtney. “Over the next few months to year, the idea struck me to host a listening party to showcase the vinyl.”
Beginning with only a single turntable, Naked Vinyl began nurturing record love in the Red River area.
However, Kern Courtney’s love of music proved to be beyond his personal enjoyment. “I thought, ‘Why should I be so selfish? Why don’t I give other people the opportunity to bring their records?’ That way, I am able to listen to music I never get a chance to hear or have never heard.”
From the desire to spread the love of music, Naked Vinyl developed family-friendly principles in an effort to allow audiences of all ages to appreciate the music.
Each event features a new theme related to nearby holidays or local color. February’s love motif brought regional classics with musical giants such as Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead. My garage punk sensibilities resulted in my own contribution of the King Khan & BBQ Show classic “I’ll Be Loving You.” Themes can be diverse, ranging as far between Reggae May Day (Courtney’s favorite) to songs about plants (a theme which resulted in an attendee’s contribution of Stevie Wonder’s album “The Secret Life of Plants”).
Courtney hopes to expand the event to feature and collaborate with local Electronic Dance Music (EDM) DJs. However, Courtney believes the key to the event’s success is in its accessibility regardless of the future.
Naked Vinyl occurs on the first Thursday of every month at Marilynn’s Place. For more information and event updates, check out the Naked Vinyl page on Facebook.