Nashville’s RSD quick guide

Nashville record shoppers have a store-by-store road map for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 18, with separate event plans at Vinyl Tap, Third Man Records and Grimey’s. (nashvillescene.com) Record Store Day is the annual indie-store promotion built around limited vinyl releases, and the national site lists April 18, 2026 as this year’s date. Grimey’s says Bruno Mars is the 2026 ambassador, and the official Record Store Day site says more than 365 exclusive and limited releases are tied to the event. (recordstoreday.com; yahoo.com) Vinyl Tap plans a 12-hour event from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in East Nashville, with live music and vendors starting at noon and the store opening at 9 a.m. Its event page also lists disc jockey sets, drag performances, food trucks, drink specials and a local vendor market. (vinyltapnashville.com) Grimey’s plans a 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. event at 1060 East Trinity Lane. The store says it will stock “the vast majority” of the Record Store Day titles, hand out cookies from Pink Door Cookies, host HeadCount voter-registration volunteers and put out a large drop of used vinyl upstairs. (grimeys.com) Third Man Records is part of the same April 18 shopping circuit, but its Nashville store page currently emphasizes the shop itself, the Blue Room bar, tours and its direct-to-acetate recording setup rather than a standalone Record Store Day schedule. The store says the Nashville location opened in 2009 and includes the label offices, a record shop and the Blue Room venue. (thirdmanrecords.com) That split matters for shoppers because Record Store Day works at the store level, not as one synchronized festival. Record Store Day’s own site tells buyers to find participating stores and events locally, and Nashville Scene’s guide organizes the day shop by shop instead of as a single citywide timetable. (recordstoreday.com; nashvillescene.com) The practical difference is timing. Vinyl Tap starts first at 9 a.m., Grimey’s opens at 10 a.m., and Third Man’s public-facing pages point visitors toward regular store attractions like tours and the Blue Room rather than a posted morning queue plan. (vinyltapnashville.com; grimeys.com; thirdmanrecords.com) For Nashville buyers chasing exclusives, the safest read is simple: check each store’s own page before Saturday, April 18, and expect different doors, hours and side events depending on which line you join. (nashvillescene.com; vinyltapnashville.com; grimeys.com; thirdmanrecords.com)