In this video I get personal about why vinyl still matters to me after 50 years. As a teenager I was awkward, introverted, and honestly not comfortable around my peers—but music was my escape, and the record store was my favorite place. I talk about how I’d hear kids at school mention bands, see the concert shirts, then head straight to the shop to find those albums. I can barely remember photos from back then, but hand me a record and I can tell you when I bought it, why I bought it, and how it made me feel—like picking up Blue Öyster Cult’s Some Enchanted Evening because the cover looked cool and it led me down the rabbit hole. I also explain why records aren’t “just another format” for me. The ritual—pulling a record out, dusting it off, placing it on the turntable, reading liner notes—has stayed the same for decades, and that’s comforting. Vinyl sounds different than CD or streaming (not necessarily “better”), and it forces engagement and intent. I’ll stream to audition new music, but if I love it, I want the record. Tubes and gear are fun (and yeah, tubes are an obsession), but in the end it’s the music—and the memories—that keep me coming back to vinyl.