PUTNEY, Vt. – A new music shop is now open for business in scenic Putney, Vt. called Next Chapter Records. Launched in June by retired middle school teacher and longtime music enthusiast Mitch Harrison, Next Chapter Records offers both vintage and new vinyl, select CDs, t-shirts, and vinyl cleaning accessories.
“I’m a longtime music junkie in general, and I just love vinyl,” Harrison said in a recent interview. “I have great memories over the years, of first raiding my sister’s vinyl collection and then flipping through records on my own, starting in the ‘80s at my hometown record shop in Pompton Lakes, N.J.
“I’ve always had a love for sharing the gift of music with people via mix tapes, sending online links, suggesting live shows, and through the college radio station. The idea of opening a record store is just an extension of all that. It brings me joy to get records in the hands of people who are excited about a certain band, or have been looking for a certain release. It’s also fun to just chat about music with them [customers].”
When Harrison decided to retire from teaching, he wanted to create something new, the adventure of being his own boss and being able to celebrate the history of music with others. In choosing the location for his music shop, he saw the open 120 Main Street in downtown Putney and it just felt right to him.
“It was just the right size to get started and I really wanted to be in a ‘downtown’ area. We are losing our downtowns throughout this country, and they are a critical part of a community. I want to, in some small way, contribute to a small, downtown environment by opening an independent record store. Putney has a vibrant music culture and hidden in these hills are some very artistic and eclectic folks, and many are vinyl lovers.”
Next Chapter Records prides itself on finding and offering high quality, rescued vinyl, and making it available to vinyl aficionados so it can be enjoyed and collected once again. They also offer select new releases as well as other vinyl accessories.
“It’s my job to dig for vinyl and bring them to the people who visit Next Chapter,” Mitch said. “We have gotten a great response from customers regarding our variety and about 90% of what we offer is rescued vinyl records, and we also have some new vinyl, CDs, shirts, turntables, and vinyl cleaning accessories.
“We also pride ourselves on carrying music that blurs musical lines and is hard to stick in just one genre. We want to appeal to everyone who ventures in, so we carry everything from one dollar records to rare collectibles.”
After a soft opening in May, the response from the community and from those visiting from out-of-state has been amazing. Residents seem genuinely excited to have a record store in town, and the other businesses in Putney have been very supportive. To learn more, visit www.nextchapterrecords.com.