Husband-and-wife record store lovers Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires have been selected as the Record Store Day ambassadors for 2023. The annual event honoring the culture and legacy of independently owned record stores returns on Saturday, April 22.
“Record stores are gathering places. They’re rooms full of carefully curated art and entertainment where you can find a friend, take a date, start a band,” Shires and Isbell stated in a press release. “We all need these gathering places now more than ever. In your local record store you find common ground and the excitement of discovery. A great new album can make a grumpy old man (like Jason) feel like a kid again. We’ve both worked in record stores, played our songs there, built our careers there.”
The pair will release The Sound Emporium EP as a Record Store Day exclusive. The four-song set was recorded by the couple in the studio and marks the first studio record featuring both their names on its spine. Isbell told Variety the collection consists of his previously unreleased cut “Hired Gun,” her never-before-issued song “Old Habits,” an acoustic take on “Tour Of Duty” with 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden and a cover of Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing.”
Record Store Day organizers will reveal the full slate of exclusive releases next month. Watch the pair announce their role as Record Store Day ambassadors and find out which album Amanda recently purchased for Jason below:
Very excited to announce that @JasonIsbell and @AmandaShires are the 2023 @RecordStoreDay Ambassadors.
As part of their ambassadorship, Jason and Amanda will be releasing a collaborative record – The Sound Emporium EP.
Find it and more at a record store near you on 4.22.23. pic.twitter.com/Ob9j7CKu8X
— Southeastern Records (@SoutheasternRec) January 30, 2023
