Audiophil’s Records

It’s easy to spend the day in Joliet, Illinois. There’s never a lack of something to do. You can visit the “Jewel of Joliet”, also known as the Rialto Square Theatre. Constructed in 1926, it has entertained Joliet with movies, concerts, musicals, and comedy. A quick look at the theater’s schedule, and you’ll find quite a few reasons to visit. At the time of this writing, Buddy Guy is scheduled to perform. Master of the “Chicago Blues”, Buddy Guy has been at it for decades. My father was a big fan of the blues, and I’m pretty sure I recall him spinning A Man & The Blues on his turntable. I have no idea what happened to that copy. There’s one thing I do know. If I ever want to consider replacing it, the first place I can go is only a short walk from the Rialto. It’s located on E. Van Buren, and it’s called Audiophil’s Records.

2018 was a good year for music. Lady Gaga’s version of A Star is Born premiered, and the soundtrack was released on vinyl. Buddy Guy also released his most recent album, The Blues is Alive and Well. 2018 is also the year that Phil and Tiffany Johnson opened Audiophil’s Records. 

A quick walk around the store, and you’ll know you’ve come to the right place. There’s Queen II and Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. Looking for Rush’s Moving Pictures? They have you covered. Care for something local? Don’t fret. Phil & Tiffany have your back with their “local rack”.

“We have an amazing music scene here in Joliet,” they explain. “And we wanted to give those artists a place to share their music.” And here’s the best part – “All the proceeds go right back to the bands so they can keep original music coming.”

That’s support. 

They also make efforts to showcase those local artists and bands at Audiophil’s hosted events. These events include “record crawls” and “Panic at The Plaza”, a Halloween-themed bonanza. 

“We are music enthusiasts and collectors ourselves; we are here for the fun and community of the whole thing.”

And it shows. There’s nothing that gives Phil & Tiffany more joy than to see the happiness on a customer’s face when they discover something new or something they’ve always been looking for. A case in point involves a man who walked in one day hoping to find a record his dad used to play. It had become a routine of his; spot a record store and check to see if a copy of his dad’s record was there. On this particular day, his search was over. “When he jumped up with tears in his eyes, we knew he had earned it and couldn’t even charge him the .99.”

Now I know where I’m going to look for a copy of my dad’s old Buddy Guy record.

Phil & Tiffany love to describe themselves as a “mom & pop” store. It harkens back to the heyday of the Rialto Square Theatre when small businesses were the heart of downtowns across America. Joliet is rebuilding that past. In today’s digitized existence of social media, streaming entertainment, and gaming, it’s easy to lose oneself in a virtual world where it all comes on with the push of a button or the tap of a screen. One often forgets there’s a real world out there. Audiophil’s is helping Joliet rediscover it… with vinyl. “Everything is so easy and disposable people like the tangibility of it. They can hold it, clean it, read it, listen to it, it’s real.”

And it’s here to stay.