Vinyl Hunter 24: Banjo music found on Record Store Day

Last Saturday was Record Store Day. There were a few albums I wanted, so I set my alarm for 6 a.m., which doesn't even seem that early compared to how early some people line up outside local record stores for this annual event. I saw a couple people camped out at one local store at 8 p.m. on Friday, choosing to spend all night in a shopping plaza in hopes of finding that sweet, sweet vinyl treasure. 

My alarm went off, and I hit snooze. It went off again, and I turned it off. Getting up early to wait in line for hours is a younger person's game. I didn't leave the house until 7:30. The shop I visited first opened at 8 a.m. There was a line, but it didn't seem too crazy. However, it took almost an hour for me to get my turn to enter the fray to search for the records on my wish list. 

There were three albums that I considered "must have," and I knew Big D's Records at Summit Mall, in Fairlawn, Ohio, had at least gotten copies of each of them. There were two Brian Wilson releases, but either I got there too late, or I simply could not find them amid the tight crowd in the store. I ended up having to make a second stop at Hollow Bone Records, which is where I had seen those all-nighters the day before. However, what I did find at Big D's was some banjo goodness. 

For the first time ever, Jalopy Records participated in Record Store Day, releasing a compilation of 78-rpm era recordings from collections of Robert Crumb and John Heneghan (of the East River String Band). Heneghan produces a podcast, called John's Old-Time Radio Show, where he plays music from his collection, and often has Crumb as a guest. Together, they curated My Soul Is Lost: Unknown & Forgotten Rural American Musicians for Record Store Day. The pressing was limited to 1,000 copies, which made it one of the scarcer albums available among the 355 different titles released this year. 

As I made my way to the rear of Big D's Records, I saw My Soul Is Lost on the shelf along the back wall. Another collector was standing in front of it but clearly was not interested. I flipped through the other records as I anxiously waited for him to move out of the way, so I could grab my quarry and escape the madhouse. 

The album comes in a nice, resealable outer sleeve. The cover art features a group of rural musicians from the early 1900s, with hand drawn lettering by Crumb. Inside is a beautiful 28-page booklet with liner notes from Heneghan and track notes by music historian Tony Russell, along with photos of musicians and the record labels for the songs that appear on the album. The record was pressed on black vinyl. 

The compilation features 16 tracks, recorded during the 1920s and 1930s by rural musicians who have largely been forgotten to time. Much of the music features banjo and fiddle, among other instrumentation.

Track list for Side A: 

1. "I Surely Am Living a Ragtime Life," W. A. Lindsey & Alvin Conder (1928)
2. "O Dem Golden Slippers," West Virginia Ramblers (1931)
3. "Look Here Mama," Uncle Bud Walker (1928)
4. "My Soul Is Lost," Crowder Brothers (1937)
5. "Livin’ in the Mountains," Lonesome Cowgirl (1931)
6. "Bungalow Blues," Mary Butler (1928)
7. "Wild Cat Hollow," Paul & Charles Johnson (1930)
8. "Come Be my Rainbow," Clover Leaf Old Time Fiddlin’ Team (1928)

Track list Side B:

1. "My Good Gal Has Thrown Me Down," Homer Callahan (1934) 
2. "Cotton Mill Girl," Lester Smallwood (1928)
3. "Down the Highway," Charlie Pickett (1937)
4. "Gold Diggers," The Grady Family (1930)
5. "You Can’t Blame Me for That," Hazel Scherf (1934) 
6. "Old Uncle Joe," McKinney Brothers (1934)
7. "Some Little Bug Is Goin’ to Get You Some Day," Bradley Kincaid (1933)
8. "Black Snake Moan," Charles Underwood acc. Hack’s String Band (1930)

In the liner notes, Heneghan describes this music as being "from a time when big money was just getting involved in the music making process and hadn’t yet fully crushed or cast out the most unique and richest sounding performers of the time. As a result we are left with, in my opinion, recordings of some of the most beautiful music ever made. I guess that’s what old-time music is to me.”

My Record Store Day 2026 haul:

• Various Artists, My Soul Is Lost: Unknown & Forgotten Rural American Musicians
• Brian Wilson, On Tour 1999-2007 (2,000 copies)
• Brian Wilson, Imagination (3,500 copies)
• 13th Floor Elevators, We Are Not Live (2,000 copies)

Any of my fellow record collectors make it out to Record Store Day this year? Let me know what you grabbed down in the comments. 

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