WATCH: Sharing a love of music, records, and rock n’ roll

• First Music Collectors Show in two years
• Event is an opportunity for people to share a common love of music

Not being able to sing or play an instrument hasn’t stopped one couple from sharing their love of music with others.

Doogie Irvine, and his wife Rita, have collected vinyl for decades. They now have over 10,000 records split between their home, a store, and various storage units.

Both are organizers of the Music Collectors’ Show, an event for people across B.C. and beyond to share their love for records and rock n’ roll.

“It’s beautiful to go into your collection, pull out a record you haven’t listened to in a bit, slowly bring your needle over, and listen to crisp, beautiful sound,” Doogie told Kelowna10.

The event was held for the first time in two years due to the pandemic. It took place at the Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall and hundreds of people attended to forage through thousands of records, cassettes, CDs, and music memorabilia.

“Coming here and finding an album by a certain artist that you never even know produced it,” he said. “You take it home, put it on a turntable and it’s just fantastic.”

The church was full of vendors and attendees who all shared the same love for music. Classic rock played in the room from a turntable and stories about concerts, bands, and more was shared amongst everyone.

One of the vendors was selling signed memorabilia from rockstars. For years, he’s hit up concerts in an effort to capture elusive autographs and strike up conversations with performers.

“It’s the artist that can take their thought and turn it into music and then it becomes our folklore,” Shawn Penner said. “Vinyl is a big expression… you can hold it in your hands, you’re looking at the album, the album cover, and the artist of that cover.”

Penner has spoken with many famous artists throughout the decades such as Corey Hart, Peter Frampton, Cheap Trick, and more. His advice for getting autographs is to be polite, let security know why you’re there, and to treat the stars with respect.

“I got to give Neil Young a thank you card that said, ‘if mother nature had a big brother, it’d be you, and the things you’d giveaway are bigger on the other side, and thank you for who you are,’” he explained.

Although it’s great to share experiences about music with others at events like the Music Collectors’ Show, Penner said nothing beats the emotion of watching your favourite artists perform live.

“All of the sudden that artist is singing to you and some of it is their heart,” he said. “I don’t remember half the concerts I’ve been to because I’m so in awe.”