An Underwhelming List of Country Music Releases For Record Store Day 2019

C'mon, Nashville... Where are you, Texas? With a phenomenally underwhelming list of roots-related music releases in the upcoming Record Store Day, country music fans should be left wondering if those in charge are asleep at the wheel. If you haven't heard, vinyl is back- generating more dollars in sales in 2018 than CD sales. And fervent music fans are packing record stores in record numbers on this special day in April each year, buying up special releases by the handful. And yet, the only current major playlist artist doing any release is Kip Moore. Where oh where are all the major and mid-major labels and players in these releases?  Don't they recognize this as an incredible opportunity to build anticipation with their fanbase and release something special for superfans?

Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. Today there are Record Store Day participating stores on every continent except Antarctica.

This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records, and on and on. In 2008 a small list of titles was released on Record Store Day and that list has grown to include artists and labels both large and small, in every genre and price point. The list continues to include a wide range of artists, covering the diverse taste of record stores and their customers.

While there’s only one Record Store Day a year, the organization works with both independent and and major labels throughout the year to create contests, special releases and promotions in order to spotlight the benefits of supporting these independent, locally owned stores with music purchases throughout the year. This year, the event will be held on April 13, 2019 and there are a number of country music releases including the following:

Title – Artist – Label – Format – Release Type - Quantity
Anderson East – Alive in Tennessee – New Elektra – 2xLP- RSD exclusive - 1500
Kip Moore – Room To Spare – MCA Nashville – LP – 1500
Emmylou Harris – The Studio Albums – 1980-1983 – 5xLP – 1000
Mumford & Sons – Delta Acoustic Sessions/Live From Electric Lady – Glassnote – 10” Picture Disc -RSD Exclusive – 3500
LeAnn Rimes – Live From Gruene Hall – Everle Records – LP – RSD First – 1000
Marty Stuart – ICON – Mercury Nashville – LP – RSD First – 1500
Tedeschi Trucks Band – High and Mighty – Mercury Nashville – LP – RSD First – 1000
Jeff Tweedy – Warmer – dBpm Records – LP – RSD Exclusive – 5000
Townes Van Zandt – Best of Townes Van Zandt – Fat Possum Records – 2xLP – RSD First - 2000