Home Grown: A stunning albums collection in a u-shaped wall of vinyl

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 and a few words about your collection to [email protected].

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Name: Ryan Kickland

Location: Black Hills, South Dakota, USA

Size of collection (approx.): 6,000

How long have you been collecting for? 12 years

What part of your set-up are you most proud of? My LP collection, which makes up the bulk of my records and displays quite pleasantly in a formidable u-shaped wall of vinyl.

What record(s) are you most proud of?

Wow… that’s like choosing a favourite child. So many that I hold dear, but my first-press blues, jazz and soul albums, along with a lot of rare psych and prog records definitely stand out. One special album in particular is an old autographed copy of The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits, specifically because of what Tom wrote on the cover… “There ain’t nothin’ shaking but the leaves on the trees and I ain’t nothing but a real cool breeze. Yours truly, Tom Waits.” A cool spin on an Eddie Fontaine lyric.

What does your record collection mean to you?

As a musician/songwriter myself, it’s a boundless source of inspiration, a library of beautiful, historical artifacts and a living encyclopedia of my travels, digs, lucky finds, adventures, great conversations and memorable encounters.