By JOHN DALY
Pearl Jam has been named the official Record Store Day 2019 Ambassadors, it was announced Tuesday.
The iconic band of the 1990s fronted by Eddie Vedder was selected not only because of the love for the band the selection committee feels but also because of the band’s impressive work over the years. Pearl Jam has 10 studio albums, hundreds of live performances and a 2017 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. The band has sold more than 85 million albums sold worldwide.
“I’ve worked in and around record stores for my entire adult life and feel like I’ve grown up with Pearl Jam because of it,” said RSD co-founder and organizer Carrie Colliton. “My early, early advance copy of Ten came with me on a free-ranging trek through Europe at an impressionable age, some of my craziest and best midnight sales were for Pearl Jam albums, and any one of their songs makes me think of my favorite record store co-workers. This Ambassadorship is a natural fit– a band that stays true to themselves and the people who love them, and a form of retail that does pretty much the same thing.”
Record Store Day is a “celebration of the culture of the record store” and takes place annually in April. Record Store Day 2019 is April 13. Each year the Colliton and crew select a prominent member of the music community to represent as “ambassador.”
“Pearl Jam is honored to be Record Store Day’s Ambassador for 2019,” said Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCreedy. “Independent record stores are hugely important to me, and have been ever since I was 12 years-old. Before I even really knew what they were — there was a certain feeling of ‘this is a dream come true,’ and it’s a wonderland and there’s so much to learn in here… and it’s still that way.”
Record Store Day, the organization, is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and promotes independent record stores year-round with events, special releases and other fun things.
