The Vinyl Room to Reopen on Beacon's Foremost Avenue in August

For the previous 11 months, John Kihlmire and Kane Licari have poured their souls into a brand new model of The Vinyl Room, a shrine to the glory days of recorded music. Now, it’s crunch time and curiosity of their new Beacon venue is excessive, however they’re maintaining the opening low-key to keep up the ingredient of shock.

Paper covers the home windows and the back and front doorways are locked, although loads of work is happening inside. A QR code, accessible to scan from the sidewalk, hyperlinks to their Instagram account, which affords some teasers of the membership’s look.

“Folks preserve asking ‘when are you going to open, when are you going to open?’ and we are able to’t wait to lastly get there,” says Licari. The reply is someday within the first week of August.

Kihlmire first launched the file store-meets-bar idea in Wappingers Falls in 2017, impressed by a store he had come throughout in Colorado the place information, books, and classic pinball machines provided an intimate, retro really feel. The OG Vinyl Room boasted turntables, cassettes, CDs, and over 8,000 information of each style. With dwell music units each weekend, it shortly turned a well known vacation spot for hip hop followers within the space and as far south as New York Metropolis, with Visitor DJs like Massive Professor and Smif-N-Wessun making the journey up. Located subsequent door to Wagon Wheel Pizza, they minimize a slot within the wall to slide the slices via.

The membership first moved to Beacon in July 2021, however that incarnation, positioned in a chichi new residence constructing, ran afoul of neighbors (aside from those that got here all the way down to occasion). The place additionally had no room for his or her in depth file assortment or arcade recreation consoles. “Individuals who knew us in Wappingers inevitably requested, ‘The place’s the information? The place’s the Ms. Pac-Man?’ Lastly, we are able to roll them out,” says Kihlmire.

Now, in what’s presumably their closing location, they are going to occupy a brick constructing that they purchased on Foremost Avenue away from any residences, aside from the 2 flats upstairs from the membership, which might be rented on Airbnb and in addition used to assist lure prime DJs to Beacon.

The Vinyl Room might be open seven days per week and dangle late-ish, till 11pm on weekdays, 2am on weekends, and 10pm on Sundays), although the cut-off instances aren’t set in stone. “If the place is full, I’m not yelling out ‘final name,’” Licari says. “If there are 75 individuals in the home, then I’m letting the occasion roll on.”

Increasing from 1,200 to three,700 sq. toes lets them carry again the vinyl, which they each purchase and promote, and plug again within the video video games. DJs will as soon as once more spin information on turntables: no Serato software program allowed.

To what was a former furnishings retailer, they’ve added a storage door and created a luxurious primary degree that appears longer and wider than it’s. Data and images adorn the partitions. Hanging over one sales space is a framed assortment of thirty 45 rpm singles. Couches add a comfortable vibe and uncovered brick is the dominant motif. The video games are positioned within the basement. On July 11, DJ Tekwun stopped by and wrote “amazed with the brand new spot. Y’all gonna positively get pleasure from it.” He might be spinning 45s as soon as they open.

Kihlmire and Licari love music. They got here of age within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties, with a penchant for rap, however they’re versed in older types. On the new membership, they are going to once more purchase and promote information—a popularity that precedes them. (Somebody not too long ago dropped off a cache of 78 rpm singles from the Twenties and Nineteen Thirties.) Although they sometimes focus on music from 1960 on, additionally they admire Sinatra, Coltrane, and different iconic performers. Genres they’re not so eager on? Nation, classical, present tunes, and massive band.

However the primary focus? Discovering widespread floor, with music because the throughline. “We’re about positivity and creating a spot the place everybody feels welcome,” says Licari. “Politics, faith—go away it on the door. For those who’re a music fanatic, this place is sort of a time machine with the flux capacitor from Again to the Future, celebrating the best musical eras.”

A chef is designing the menu, which might be extra numerous and higher-end than something Wagon Wheel Piazza might devise. Count on small plates from $15 to $20. The duo has additionally employed a advisor to develop an intensive cocktail menu. Kihlmire confirmed off a few concoctions on his telephone, however the particulars on the meals and drinks are nonetheless being hammered out.

“We’re going all in on this, making an attempt to make all the pieces one of the best it may be,” says Kihlmire. “We’ve put in plenty of blood, sweat and tears. You might say that what we’re doing is elevating the bar.”

The Vinyl Room
396 Foremost Avenue, Beacon
www.tvrny.com
(845) 297-3344