REPOST: Citizen Vinyl on the Radio

- September 28, 2020 -

Gar recently caught up with radio hosts Paul Foster (WNCW) and Matt Peiken (Blue Ridge Public Radio) to discuss all things Citizen Vinyl on the airwaves. You can stream both conversations down below!

Friday Feature: Asheville’s Vinyl-Record Pressing Facility (WNCW)

This Friday Feature Interview of the Week spotlights the all new Citizen Vinyl – a production facility that will be making music albums in Asheville.  Gar Ragland, a veteran music producer, is one of the masterminds responsible for making this happen and our guest.  Find out about Citizen Vinyl’s plans – the historic building the business is located in – and how other types of businesses also call the venue home.  The interview first aired on Sept. 25, 2020.

With Citizen Vinyl, Asheville Drops the Needle on State’s Only Large-Scale Record Pressing Plant (BPR)

Eighty-one years ago, when Asheville had two daily newspapers, the new art deco building that housed them across from the Grove Arcade featured tall ceilings, glass block windows, frosted light sconces and vast, marble floors with custom inlays. On the third story, long ago hidden beneath asbestos tiling, there was another unique floor.

“And you see all these pock marks?” Gar Ragland said, pointing down. “These are cello stands, these are mic stands, I mean, who knows?”

When Ragland learned this was also the one-time home of WWNC-AM Radio, he knew he’d found the home for his own dream—of resurrecting an artifact from a bygone musical era while giving Asheville something altogether new: A vinyl records pressing plant.