Record Store Day in Australia has announced their first ambassadors for 2017. In alphabetical order by last name, AMRA is very pleased to welcome the following roster of Australian music identities:
Robert Forster
Robert Forster was a founding member of The Go-Betweens and co-writer of Cattle and Cane which was listed at Number 20 on APRAs Top Australian Songs List. He is currently a writer, solo artist and performer with an ardent following in Australia, Germany, the UK and the US. He has released nine albums with The Go-Betweens and five solo albums. His latest, Songs To Play, made UK’s Uncut and German Rolling Stones Top Twenty Albums of 2015.
In 2006 his music writing won the Pascall Prize for Critical Writing. One of his pieces appeared in The Best American Music Writing 2007.
Mark Gable
Singer, songwriter, presenter and host, Mark Gable has been part of the Australian entertainment industry for more than 30 years and is widely known as the frontman and songwriter for iconic Aussie pub rockers, The Choirboys. Run to Paradise and Boys Will Be Boys are the anthems that helped define not just a genre, but an era and Run to Paradise continues to dominate radio playlists. He tours constantly with The Choirboys, as well as hosts corporate events, is a popular after-dinner and keynote speaker, and radio presenter. He is a patron of the Golden Stave Foundation and an ambassador for beyondblue.
Joining the roster is popular Instagrammer Steve Kouta.
Steve Kouta’s love of music is genetic, inherited from a father who loved obscure British blues bands from the Sixties. Steve now has more than 4,000 records in his collection, spanning a wide spectrum of styles though he admits to an especial love of Seventies funk (George Clinton, Sly Stone) and Nineties hip hop (A Tribe called Quest, Digable Planets, Outkast). Having said this his favourite artist of all time is Prince. His Instagram account began in January 2015 when Steve was working in sales with Universal Music Australia. He posted one pic of a record sleeve along with some comments and he describes it as ‘well received’ so he began to post more. Two years later he has more than 50,000 followers and has been featured in media around the world. Steve is based in Sydney. His Instagram page can be found at https://www.instagram.com/stevekouta
More ambassadors will be announced in a few days.
Record Store Day is a once-a-year unmissable day for all music lovers. This year it’s celebrating 10 years with a record number of participating indie record stores. Set for Saturday 22 April more than 170 indie music stores around Australia will throw open their doors to live music, DJs spinning the vinyl, treasure hunts, parties, barbecues, coffee carts, face painting and, of course, the legendary vinyl crate digging.
The indie record store is a community hub for music lovers: a place to find new music, reconnect with old and new music from old friends, get great advice and recommendations, hear musicians live, find out what’s happening in the local music scene, and generally hang out with people who love music as much as you do.
Background: Record Store Day is an international event held in over 30 nations around the world, celebrating indie record stores and their place in their local music community. Stores showcase live performances from local and international musicians, throw parties, host DJ sets, throw snags on the barbie, run competitions and draws, raid their vaults for vinyl, CD and memorabilia treasures, open the bar, offer discounts across the store, source special purchase buys often from overseas, and supply the legendary limited edition vinyl which is pressed specially for the day.
In Australia, Record Store Day is organised by AMRA (the Australian Music Retailers Association) with additional funding from the major record companies and like-minded sponsors such as Pro-Ject, which is the official turntable partner.
Information about what is happening in which store is regularly added to the Australian website and social media.
Website: www.recordstoreday.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RecordStoreDayAustralia
Twitter: twitter.com/RSDAustralia
Instagram: www.instagram.com/RSDAustralia