From the moment they first opened their doors, Seasick Records has been one of the most community-centric businesses in Birmingham. The record store - which has been run by Dan Drinkard for nearly a decade - brings rare concerts, exclusive releases, and record listening parties to the city in addition to the thousands of physical items that can be bought at the shop. Record Store Day is the ultimate culmination of these characteristics. The annual holiday celebrates all things music while bringing communities together. In other words, it’s a holiday that Seasick was always destined to be great at. 2023 Record Store Day takes place this Saturday, and Seasick came together with their biggest lineup yet to celebrate.
This year’s RSD features close to 300 limited releases, and Seasick has the vast majority of these records in varying quantities. This includes an exclusive version of St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ new album, ‘Angels in Science Fiction’. The band has Alabama Red Belly Turtle-colored vinyl available only at record stores in Alabama. There will also be an intimate performance featuring members of St. Paul outside Seasick at 1pm, followed by signings by the whole band. Doors open at 8am, with live music beginning at 10am. Local favorites DJ Andromeda & SlowFast Hazel start things off and are followed by DJ Updog at 11am. Burgin Mathews of the Southern Music Research Center takes over the DJ booth at noon before St. Paul. Neal Francis, who is in town for a late night show at Saturn on Saturday, will be playing a special DJ set at 2:30pm, which will be followed by a very special signing by Victoria Hallman celebrating the release of her long lost record, ”From Birmingham To Bakersfield”.
Hallman is a Forest Park resident who was a Buckaroo of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos fame on the famed Hee Haw TV program. She recorded a solo album with Buck Owens producing and the Buckaroos backing, but it was never released. It was long thought that the tapes were lost, but decades later a record collector found an acetate disc with Victoria’s name on it and reached out to the musician. Birminghamians now have the honor of celebrating the record’s release with Hallman 40 years after it was recorded.
Rare musical moments can be found in the store Saturday, but they can also be found on vinyl with this year’s stellar lineup of limited releases. When asked about the most requested records for the 2023 RSD, Dan shares “Taylor Swift for sure. There’s a live session that they did around her Folklore album. People are very excited about that and they pressed a lot of those, thankfully. There’s a Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires release that will be pretty cool, and Amanda Shires also has a solo release. There’s a Grateful Dead live box that will be pretty popular. There’s Elton John, Billy Joel, B.B. King. There’s a Mac Miller thing - his jazzy alter-ego Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival - that has an EP that’s getting its first ever physical release that people are excited about. And honestly there’s a Macho Man Randy Savage record - it’s a hip-hop album. Besides Taylor Swift, that's the most asked about one that I’ve encountered.” Each record store was only given one Randy Savage record until new records are made later this year, so Seasick will be auctioning away their copy Saturday to make it more fair for Birmingham wrestling and music enthusiasts.
Records aren’t the only exciting limited edition items found at Seasick on Saturday. There will also be a free mug for guests who spend over $100, and a mug along with a RSD tote bag for those who spend over $150. Parking is expected to be packed so Seasick is asking people to consider Ubering or carpooling, and being respectful of people’s mailboxes and driveway space when parking in the streets. It’s going to be the store’s biggest event yet, which feels right after the last few years really centered around a pandemic that prevented people from coming together like they desire. “People are feeling more comfortable and we’re feeling more comfortable, so we’re going bigger than we ever have on Record Store Day with performances and stuff. It's going to be fun.”
Seasick is doing it big alright, with Birmingham musicians at the center. But it’s what we’ve come to expect from these local all-stars. It’s a blessed to the city, and feels like a blessing to Dan and company as well. “Honestly it’s kind of crazy. I don’t know if I ever expected to be going 10 years in essentially. It’s crazy to even be in that position,” Drinkard shares, “We’re very appreciative of people supporting us, being into records, and wanting to come out and do events like this. We’re really fortunate to be able to have the support that we do, especially with the last few years being really weird and people being in different places. It’s nice to be a place where people can come and forget all the crazy shit going on in the world and just enjoy some music.”
Sounds like a plan to us, Seasick. And Saturday sounds like the perfect time to do so.
All images provided by Seasick Records
