Macon Magazine

The second part, he continued, is "getting it home to play. You might have your own little zone where you like to sit and listen. You probably have stacks and stacks of records around, and you go through them to pick the evening's listening. You turn on the turntable and settle back to listen, enjoy the cover art, read the liner notes, and maybe the lyrics. It's a whole experience, and the big thing is your being intentional about it. With vinyl, and even CDs to a degree, you get to learn and experience the music a lot more intimately. We can enjoy the new but satisfy the longing to do it the old way. But again, there's really no wrong way to listen." Some said it was ill-advised for Dantzler to open a record store, even a used record store with low overhead, when he did so in an affordable storefront in 2013. However, Dantzler recognized the enduring counterculture surrounding physical format music and believed Macon held enough customers. Having toured with different bands, he witnessed demand among independent musicians and fans at concert merch tables, turning a profit from sales of the vinyl albums, CDs, and even cheap cassettes indie bands create. Dantzler's vision was to establish a counterculture hub in his hometown, where passionate listeners could find that rare fare. Writer and DJ Roger Riddle wrote in 2013 that "when you first walk into Fresh Produce Records in Downtown Macon, it's like you've stepped into a clubhouse for fans of independent music rather than a retail shop. There may be someone sitting on a couch reading a magazine. Obscure experimental rock music plays in the background as people standing around the counter discuss music of all types. All the while, there is a band setting up, getting ready to perform." Nowadays, the 78 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2023

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