T-Bones Records & Café recently hosted Record Store Day, drawing music enthusiasts from Hattiesburg and surrounding areas with exclusive vinyl releases and live performances.
Record Store Day (RSD) is an international semi-annual event that celebrates independently owned record stores by giving them access to exclusive vinyl products not available elsewhere. Each year, fans gather on a Saturday in April to support participating stores and engage with the music community.
This year, T-Bones offered more than 350 limited-edition vinyl releases and featured a lineup of eight performers throughout the day. The first 100 customers received free posters. Activities began at 8:30 a.m., with drinks, snacks and the first performance offered to those waiting outside. Although the store did not open until 10 a.m., customers began lining up as early as 7 p.m. the night before.
T-Bones manager Mik Davis said Record Store Day plays a crucial role in helping independent stores remain competitive.
“It's a long day about showing everything that record stores offer to customers year-round, but all in one day,” Davis said. “Most importantly, it’s a place for people to gather who are into different music, a place for people to gather that all have different backgrounds, but the same pursuit.”
Davis said the store received nearly 30 weeks’ worth of stock in a single shipment to prepare for the event. He also noted that customers traveled from as far as Louisiana and Alabama, with some choosing to camp overnight to secure exclusive releases.
Carter Templeton, a Southern Miss graduate who now works as a nurse in Sumrall, camped with three friends in hopes of purchasing a limited seven-inch pressing of “Fortnight,” a single from Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department. Templeton said the tradition began when Swift served as Record Store Day ambassador and released a similarly rare vinyl pressing.
“When Taylor Swift released ‘The Lakes’ on the seven-inch vinyl and it was super limited, she was the ambassador that year, so we were just all kind of drawn to each other there. We've been doing this ever since,” Templeton said. “This is the one time a year we all get together.”
Record Store Day 2025 marked another strong showing for T-Bones, continuing its tradition of engaging the community and highlighting the role of independent music retailers.
