By Jennifer Myers
Dave and Dan Perry.
On Sunday afternoon Dave Perry realized a dream a lifetime in the making. He opened his own record shop.
Perry, a long-time Sun music and feature writer, now writing at UMass Lowell, has collected more than 10,000 albums over the years; a “hobby” (aka obsession) that has taken over much of his Chelmsford home.
Vinyl Destination (a name coined by Sun word wizard Dan Phelps), is a father-son venture run by Dave and his son Dan. A cozy spot in the newly-renovated and highly-anticipated Mill No. 5 on Jackson Street, it is the place to pick up quality used albums — everything from Led Zeppelin and Frank Sinatra to George Carlin and the Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon (truth).
Throughout Sunday afternoon’s open house family, friends and the curious who heard about the shop through the grapevine (Marvin Gaye style), filtered in and out of the shop. Few left empty-handed.
State Rep. Jim Arciero (D-Westford), who is serious about music, offered a proclamation from the Statehouse, and lost himself browsing through the bins loaded with vinyl.
State Rep. Jim Arciero
Legendary blues guitarist Duke Robillard, who has played with Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, among many others, and founded Roomful of Blues, drove up from Rhode Island to check out his friend Dave’s new shop. He left with a very heavy brown bag of vinyl.
Duke Robillard browsing.
. . . and buying.
Dan and Dave Perry with Duke Robillard and his wife Laurene.
Fun fact: In 1991 Dave Perry was nominated for a Grammy award for writing the liner notes for “The Jack Kerouac Collection.”
Vinyl Destination, located on the 4th floor of Mill No. 5 (250 Jackson St.) officially opens on Monday Nov. 4. Follow them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/vinyldestinationlowell
Room 50 