On Sunday, the Carrboro Century Center hosted the 36th Bi-Annual CD and Record show. From 70-year-old audiophiles to teenagers with suitcase record players, the show united the community to indulge in the art of collecting physical music.
The show was open from 12-6 p.m. Sellers came to Carrboro Century Center as early as 9 a.m. to set up their vast collections. This show drew a much younger crowd than last weekend’s show in Raleigh with many shoppers being UNC students and Carrboro community members who discovered the show from signs on the sidewalk. The event hit its peak around 1 p.m. with people filling up the room to enjoy their Sunday afternoon shopping and listening to music.
There were about 15 sellers with collections spanning anywhere from one to five tables which often overflowed onto the floor. They sold all types of music from modern pop to classical jazz to 1960s folk. Some vendors had one dollar CDs and half off deals on their vinyl, while other collectors sold limited edition vinyl for upwards of $400.
There are CD and record shows held in cities all across North Carolina. Collector Harley Lyles, who sold at Sunday’s show, goes to many of these shows but also owns his own record store in Greensboro. Like him, most of the sellers have been in the business for more than 15 years. They are well known in the music scene and are often called to people's homes to sift through their record collections.
The collectors will buy anywhere from a single vinyl to the entire collection. Lyles is particularly interested in 45s – small vinyls that typically only have one or two songs on them.
“Some can be extremely rare,” Lyles said. “Like four-figure records for one song, but just because of the limited pressing. You know, they made 300 of them and they gave them away at their concert, so they become really hard to find.”
Other collectors at the show had a much more laid back philosophy on how they build their collections. Scott Wells has been a collector since he was a teenager and was deeply connected to the music scene during his time as a student at UNC. He's grown a substantial collection throughout his life, but only started selling two years ago.
“I’m 63, almost 64, so I’ve just gotten to where I’m like ‘ok I got to start letting go,'” Wells said. “I come to these shows as a buyer a lot and so I was like, ‘I want to sell at one of these shows.'”
While some people went to casually shop, others had specific goals in mind. Jennie Langley didn’t just attend the show to peruse. She has been collecting vinyl since the early 2000s and has a spreadsheet detailing all of her records. Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece and anything by Emmylou Harris were on the top of her list to find on Sunday.
