The COVID-19 pandemic has put many, many businesses in precarious positions, including independent record retailers who make invaluable contributions to our music scene. Since its inception in 2008, Record Store Day has played a part in reminding the general public that mom-and-pop stores are there for you year-round. In Music City, RSD has also doubled as a good reason to have a smorgasbord of great free shows.
Record Store Day 2020 was originally set for April 18, then pushed back to June as public spaces closed in response to COVID-19. With the trajectory of the pandemic anything but clear, the RSD organization announced in May that there would instead be three separate events, called RSD Drops, on Aug. 29, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24 (aka the last Saturday of each of those months, excepting Halloween). There's no word yet about exactly how the RSD Drops days will take place — individual cities and states have individual reopening plans based on different public-health metrics, and there's no way for sure to know where we'll be on Metro's roadmap two to four months from now.
What we do know is that there's an updated list of special limited-run RSD releases, which now indicates on what dates each title will drop. Check out the full list right here, see below for a handful of items that caught our eye, and check in with your favorite stores to learn about ways to support them — including buying records online.
- Billie Eilish, Live at Third Man Records. Acoustic session recorded in November. Single 12-inch available Aug. 29.
- The Black Keys, "Let's Rock." The group's 2019 album, their first in five years, pressed on two 12-inch records at 45 RPM for higher fidelity. Available Aug. 29.
- Brittany Howard, Live at Sound Emporium. Six songs from the Alabama Shakes leader's debut LP Jaime, recorded live at the historic studio. Single 12-inch available Aug. 29.
- Steve Earle, "Times Like These" backed with "Devil Put the Coal in the Ground." Exclusive track on the A side with a song from Earle's new album Ghosts of West Virginia on the flip. Single 7-inch available Aug. 29.
- The Feminine Complex, Livin' Love. The lone album recorded in 1969 by the fantastic all-woman psych-pop band from Nashville, reissued with bonus material on CD and as a two-12-inch set. Available Sept. 26.
- Brandi Carlile, A Rooster Says. RSD's Ambassador for 2020 has a single featuring two covers of songs by a group that's influenced her a great deal: Soundgarden. "Black Hole Sun" is on the A side with "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" on the flip. Single 7-inch available Sept. 26.
- Natalie Prass, Natalie Prass. The pop-slash-R&B ace's debut solo album from 2015 gets a reissue on a single 12-inch, with a bonus 7-inch featuring a cover of Janet Jackson's "Any Time, Any Place" on the A side and an instrumental of Prass' "It Is You" on the flip. Available Sept. 26.
- Makeup and Vanity Set, Heart of Batman OST. The phenomenal electronic composer's soundtrack to the 2018 documentary about Batman: The Animated Series. Single 12-inch, available Oct. 24.
- Tony Joe White, The Beginning. Reissue of the out-of-print 2001 album by the late swamp legend. Single 12-inch, available Oct. 24.
