Music lovers in Salt Lake City have a new record shop to obsess over—Sound and Vision Vinyl, opened by Michael Maccarrone and Pam Lancaster in 2015. Maccarrone describes the founding of Sound and Vision Vinyl as a love story spread over decades. In 1980, he and Lancaster met and fell in love in a punk-rock club in Long Island, N.Y. Over time, they drifted apart, but reconnected on Facebook. Maccarrone moved to Salt Lake City to be with Lancaster in 2012. Maccarrone's old boss in New York was eventually begging him to return to manage his previous record store. That's when the couple began thinking of opening their own shop in Salt Lake City.
Maccarrone is responsible for all the daily store operations. "Music and records have been a major passion of mine since I was 3 or 4 years old," Maccarrone says. Maccarrone has managed 10 different record stores over the course of 30 years and is proud to have created an "old school" record store in Sound and Vision Vinyl.
"When you walk in, you feel like you have walked into your own home," Maccarrone says. The store has a wide range of music playing from classics to obscure gems, and televisions showing video of rare footage from concerts.
"I love seeing fans find items they have searched for, and also introducing a new artist to someone for the first time," Maccarrone says. "Sound and Vision Vinyl allows me the chance to share what I have absorbed from my lifetime working in record stores."
Co-owner Lancaster is just as excited about the record store. "I love turning young kids on to the beauty of vinyl," she says. "We're different because we have a lot of classic pieces [and pieces] all the way up to today."
Like Maccarrone, Lancaster is no stranger to the music industry. From 1985 to 1991, she was the director of fashion and makeup for MTV, where she did makeup for the likes of David Bowie, Guns N' Roses and The Cure. "We've spent our careers with rock stars," Lancaster says. "We want to pass those stories on to the next generation."
Sound and Vision is a record collector's paradise—the perfect place for a novice to learn about vinyl but also a comfortable place for the seasoned, veteran collector. Maccarronne and Lancaster are both die-hard David Bowie fans and named their store after one of his songs. In addition to owners with impressive backgrounds in music, the store boasts a vast collection of Beatles records and collectables for sale. The store stocks new and used records, CDs, music DVDs and various memorabilia. "If I don't have something you are seeking in stock, I can special-order it in stock typically in seven to 10 days," Maccarrone says. "If you are a serious collector of specific bands, I can assist you in the discovery of rarities for your collection."
