Home Grown: “I’ve never bought a used record online, it’s all about the hunt for me”

Because every record collection has a story.

Home Grown is our series profiling you lot and your excellent record collections. Taking our cue from the brilliant submissions to the #VFRecordCollections thread on Instagram, we want to share a little of your hard-earned love for vinyl with the world.

Each week, we’ll be profiling a different collector from around the world and finding out what makes them tick. Want in? Send us a pic of your collection and a few words about your collection to [email protected].

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Name: Lauren Halliday

Location: Houston, Texas

Size of collection (approx.): 550

How long have you been collecting for?

I’ve been collecting for about six years. The first record I ever bought was a 45” single of Carl Perkins’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ on a trip to Sun Studios in Memphis in 2010. I stopped in some record stores on a couple trips the next year, finding some more interesting albums. I bought my first turntable soon after that.

What part of your set-up are you most proud of?

I would say I’m most proud of the effort I’ve put into my collection as a whole. I’ve only upgraded my set-up once. I started off with an inexpensive Sony turntable and some old Bose computer speakers while I was in college. A couple years later, I bought my current Denon DP-300F turntable and Bowers & Wilkins 686 S2 speakers. In my small space, they make a great team. I likely won’t look to upgrade again until I have a larger, more dedicated space for listening. Until then, I’ll continue to focus on expanding my collection more into its underrepresented genres.

What record(s) are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my Neil Young records. He is my all-time favourite songwriter, and I’ve been on a quest since I began collecting to find as many of his albums as I can. I’ve never bought a used record online, so it’s all about the hunt for me. It’s been a labor of love, and I now have over 30 of his albums. It took me years to track down a nice copy of On the Beach, but I finally found one a couple months ago at a record convention. It completed my set of his pre-’90s albums, the wait was worth it!

Later that same day, I found a sealed copy of Ragged Glory at a local shop. It was definitely a white whale, a record I would never expect to find in a shop, much less a sealed copy. That’s why I love digging – you never know what you’re going to find. It makes the reward so sweet.

What does your record collection mean to you?

My collection is one of the best representations of who I am. If you want to understand more about me, browse through my records. I view them as reflecting different aspects of my personality and my life experiences. It’s a collection of memories, really. Whether I bought an album at the local shop the day it came out, at a show, or found it after weeks of searching, each one has its own story and some personal significance to me. And I love sharing those stories with other people.