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Twelve hours before opening, Bill McClenthan and his friends lined up outside The Sound Garden Syracuse hoping to be in the first group let in for Record Store Day. With his decades-spanning collection, McClenthan treats it as a “religious holiday.”

“I’ve been collecting since I was a teenager,” McClenthan said. “I probably have a good 3,000 records and around 10,000 CDs.”

On Saturday, The Sound Garden Syracuse branch celebrated Record Store Day with exclusive deals. Since its opening in 1995, the store has been a cornerstone for local music enthusiasts.

The record store hosts listening parties, live band performances and is filled to the brim with records and CDs of various genres. Photographs of artists like Sting and Lil Tecca are framed on the poles. Tall shelves of Blu-ray CDs reminiscent of the Criterion Closet scatter the store.

Record Store Day runs deep in The Sound Garden’s history. In 2008, the Department of Record Stores created Record Store Day at the original Sound Garden store in Baltimore, Nick Shelton — general manager of the Syracuse store — said.

As the big day approached, Shelton and his team spent weeks in between phone calls, researching new artists and unboxing records. Then, Shelton sent out a survey to ask customers what records they might want to purchase.

Responses included an exclusive concert performance of “Diamonds and Pearls” by Prince, The New Power Generation and the widely popular song “Guess” by Charli XCX featuring Billie Eilish. Customers were limited to one album per artist. Alongside McClenthan, others lined up overnight and during the early morning to get their hands on the records at the top of their list.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

The most in demand title of the day was an alternate cover of the Wicked soundtrack. As there are only around 2,000 copies available worldwide, The Sound Garden was able to get their hands on three copies and held a raffle.

Dylan Tehrani was among the winners and had been waiting in line with his friends since 6:30 a.m. to get his hands on the prized possession. Owning a piece of physical music adds to the thrill of the listening experience for him, with its “cool” aesthetic being a bonus.

Though Record Store Day was originally cultivated to bring back physical music, records have resurfaced amongst Generation Z despite music’s easy access online.

On the holiday, customers never leave empty-handed. Rhys Natoli and his stepfather Ryan Hopping left the store with two full trays of records, from Oasis’ compilation album “Time Flies… 1994-2009” to Gorillaz’s “Demon Days.” For Maddi Litter and Victoria Phan, the two skipped breakfast to buy Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” on white vinyl.

“It’s almost like a ritual to the whole process,” Shelton said. “Music is a whole lot more than just hitting play and then walking away from it.”

The Sound Garden’s staff rings up customers at the register. Some staff members, like Brian Badder, used to be customers themselves, but eventually chose to work at the record store. Brycen Pace | Asst. Photo Editor

For husband and wife Kirt and Donna Heagerty, the two often stop by The Sound Garden throughout the year to see the available titles, often looking for ‘80s rock and metal albums. As a former DJ, Kirt has been surrounded with music all his life. Donna’s collection of 500 records is enormous enough, but Kirt’s got more.

“ I’ll put it to you this way: 18-gallon tubs. I probably have 42 tubs full of records,” Kirt said. “I lost count years ago.”

After searching high and low for his desired records for 30 minutes, McClenthan managed to mark off every single record on his shopping list. With 20 records in one hand and his crumpled up shopping list in the other, McClenthan left the store with a hard morning’s work completed.

“All of these records are mostly for my friends who live out of state,” McClenthan said. “They know how crazy I am to wait in line for hours.”

Published on April 13, 2025 at 10:56 pm