By now you’ve likely seen the clip of Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris exiting a DC record store with an armful of Lp purchases, notably including several jazz releases, among them Charles Mingus and Roy Ayers. The story behind that particular record store – and its place among what some consider ‘a dying breed’ of retail outlets is quite interesting; Ms. Harris decidedly wasn’t crate digging at some hole-in-the-wall or some retail outlet with side orders of Lps and CDs (as if those still existed!).
The store in question is HR Records, located in the heart of DC’s northwest quadrant at 702 Kennedy Street NW. Given that momentous Kamala Harris visit and the seeming rarity of retail record stores these days, some background on this particular store was in order, so we sought out HR Records proprietor Charvis Campbell with some questions.
What are the origins of HR Records, and it’s Kennedy Street location?
HR Records was founded by myself and Michael Bernstein, my partner, in March 2018. We have a video on our Instagram page that shows the early days of the shop when the walls were naked. But you knew something special was going to happen in the place. We’re just so blessed and grateful to be here for five years.
The majority of the early collection for the store came from Baltimore. I essentially acquired an entire record shop, and we brought that from Baltimore to DC. The shop was called East-West Records, located kind of on the edge of Baltimore on Liberty Road near I-695, located in a small strip mall. I remember that I had to go down some stairs and that there was a church in the basement, an African hair braiding spot, a barber shop, a religious bookstore, and then Bill’s record shop. I would suggest to Bill let’s bring these records to DC and we’ll make some money. Bill being the wise old man that he was said ‘you do a pop-up and yard sales but don’t do a brick & mortar because it’s tough.’ He was right.
But I clearly didn’t listen to him, and he didn’t listen to himself because he called me one day and he said ‘hey, you know that record collection you wanted to buy, you can have it and on top of that I have another large collection from a friend who passed away so you could have that as well.’ It turned out to be hundreds of boxes of records, books, record bins, posters, etc.
I met Michael when he actually came to my house to buy some records. I was getting married and I vividly remember that I put an ad on craigslist to sell some of my records because my wonderful wife, my beautiful smart wife said… ‘you know that I love you but you can’t bring all those records into our house.’ So I knew I had to sell off some of the collection, so I put an ad in craigslist and sure enough some of the folks who came were record shop owners… and Michael Bernstein. That’s when I realized there was some value to records. Before, I was very content just buying let’s say 100 records, with the intention of keeping five and selling the remaining 95 to break even and get my money back. It wasn’t until I was getting married and the record shop guys came to my house that I knew there was some value in these records.
Michael and I hit it off. I’m from New York and so is he. I have a love of jazz and so does Michael. We both have families – his kids are a little bit older than mine, but we both appreciate and love kids. We spent a few months looking for a spot. We looked in Georgetown and we looked in different neighborhoods around the city. But when we saw our spot on Kennedy Street we just fell in love. We just knew right away it was our home. We walked in and it was like one of those aha moments where you could just feel the energy and the vibe. You knew it was going to be something special and we’re just grateful that we’ve been here for five plus years, and we’re strong.
What would you say is the primary feature of HR Records?
We specialize in rare jazz and soul, African and reggae records. That’s what we love, that’s what we know, and that’s what walks in the door. We’re one of the only record shops that’s kind of in the community – we’re on Kennedy Street in Brightwood [702 Kennedy St. NW]. We’re not on U Street, we’re not on 14th Street, and we’re not in Georgetown. We’re a destination – you have to come and find us. Which I think is an important aspect of who we are – we’re community-focused.
One of the most interesting things about owning a record store is that I feel that we’re a community space. We have people who come in the shop who believe it or not don’t have a record player but buy records! We have folks who come in who go digging the crates and who are looking for beats. I have people who are being exposed to jazz music for the first time. It’s a wide-range of people who come in our door. I feel like I have a duty to be that space where people can come in and talk and exchange ideas about music and culture. Historically record shops, like barber shops and beauty salons, have been that place in the Black community where you can go and talk about music, film, and culture. In many ways we are that space.
How do you stock HR Records and keep your selection fresh?
Records walk through the door. Almost every day someone comes in with some records to sell from large to small collections. They call sometimes to set appointments but what I’m really enjoying is making house visits. I learn more about people spending a few hours going through records, talking about music, family, and DC culture. For me it’s really about relationships and developing relationships. I’m excited to hear stories about DC music and culture, stories about how people acquired their music. I think you really get to know somebody when you spend a couple hours in someone’s house going through their record collection.
Moreover there’s some collections that have taken me years to acquire. Some people treat some of their records like they treat their kids – sometimes better! So it’s about music, and relationships, but it’s also about learning that there’s a deeper story to be told. For example, we had acquired an amazing collection of records from a man named Georges Collient. George is one of the founders of Afro-pop and was one of the first African music journalist/hosts on Voice of America.
I found George to be a great man with a love of life – he laughs, knows music, and he’s just one of those people who as soon as you meet him you know he’s special. When I first met Georges I was attracted to his records – he had thousands of African and jazz records. But the other aspect was really just my love of wanting to learn more about Georges the man and wanting to learn more about his life, then realizing that Georges is special and that other people need to hear his story.
So I believe that I have a duty to help tell the stories of DC music and culture. I have a responsibility to help tell Georges’ story to other people – not to necessarily make a movie but to document and help preserve this history. I believe in oral histories, and we were fortunate through our non-profit to get a grant a few years ago to do oral history interviews on some of DC’s jazz musicians who performed at Westminster Church. [Editor’s note: Westminster Presbyterian Church in SW DC, under the leadership of Rev. Brian Hamilton and tireless jazz supporter and weekly host Dick Smith has for decades presented Jazz Night in DC every Friday evenng, featuring many of the DMV’s finest musicians and selling dinners in its lower level.] So when I acquire records and when I visit people’s homes, I think in terms of how do I make sure to tell this story and keep the legacy and culture alive.
In this day of vastly diminished record store resources, what does HR Records offer that folks simply cannot find online?
We offer the best in rare jazz and soul. We also offer what other record stores don’t. In any business, I think it comes down to the people. I know that our staff is the best in town. We just love music. We love and know jazz music. We love and know soul music. We love what we play and we know what we play. I think we have a love of jazz, soul, reggae and African records that is about understanding our history and culture.
How do you suppose Kamala Harris found out about HR Records, and tell us about the day she stopped by and was famously interviewed with her purchases that day? What was she specifically looking for at HR Records?
I would like to thank Madam Vice President for visiting HR Records! I’m not really sure how she heard about HR Records. I would like to think that Kamala Harris is a record shop junkie was like ‘I must go to HR Records!’ Maybe she heard about HR Records because we both went to Howard University. Or maybe it’s because I’m in Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and she’s in Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Frankly it’s very possible that it was her advance team or someone on our staff who alerted her to the shop. Bottom line, the VP made a visit and it’s a wonderful story that I’m blessed to share.
I received the first call I think like around 9-10am. I think it was first from the Small Business Administration. They asked if I was the owner of the shop, and if I would be around throughout the day. They asked some background questions and it felt almost like an interview. When I hung up the phone I didn’t think anything until a few minutes later when I got the next call from the Vice President’s office. They said something like someone senior on the VP’s staff may make a visit. But they never stated directly who would be visiting. They also said that the Secret Service will first visit the store. I remember hanging up and calling my wife saying that I think the Vice President is coming but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought that if they’re sending Secret Service to checkout the store then maybe the Vice President’s coming but I wasn’t quite sure, but you still don’t know. I didn’t know what to expect. I would have thought that they would do a visit a day or weeks in advance. But then the Secret Service team arrived in the shop, and they’re spending hours i n the shop. But they again don’t say that the Vice President is coming!
When Madame Vice President came in the shop she was sincere and down to earth. She was engaging. She spoke with my staff and customers. She made me feel special – like I’m the main reason why she’s here. Perhaps that’s why she’s a politician and hopefully about to be the next POTUS.
It’s funny now, I tried to throw her some softballs and say ‘hey, you want to checkout Coltrane‘ but she was like ‘no, where’s the Mingus.’
When the Vice President goes anywhere a team of press corps travels with her. It’s a lot of people: it’s Secret Service, it’s an advance team, it’s the press corps, it’s the local police and fire department… It’s huge and it’s overwhelming! I can see why in some instances the President doesn’t want to hit the local restaurant or shop because they have to close things down. They had to shut down the entire neighborhood for blocks during her visit. I didn’t realize it because I was inside the shop, but I heard from various people that the neighborhood was frozen and that they couldn’t move anywhere for about an hour because the Vice President was in the shop. It was an amazing experience – the VP was sincere, down to earth, and I think really cared about the experience.
Talk about how HR Records became central to the efforts of the Home Rule Music Festival and how that event became a reality.
The Home Rule Music Festival is a program of the Home Rule Music and Film Preservation Foundation. It’s a long title but it clearly says what we do and what we love – music and film.
I believe that when you combine the mediums of film and music there’s nothing like it – from an educational perspective, from a historical perspective, from a cultural perspective – or a let’s just enjoy life perspective.
During the Covid pandemic, we started Home Rule Music and Film. Before Covid we were doing a lot of events on Kennedy Street and in the community, with music performances and events with the kids. We knew it would be helpful to establish a non-profit to have other folks support us with those efforts. One of our first projects was the documentary on Black Fire Records that’s currently available for viewing on PBS.com.
It was right before Covid that we held an event in the shop with (saxophonist) Plunky (Branch) from Oneness of JuJu. It was for record store day and I think we termed it Black Fire Records Day. Plunky spoke and performed and we filmed it. I stood behind the camera and watched through the lens as Plunky told his story. I was really impressed with Plunky’s love of life. He’s full of energy and he knows his jazz. He’s smart and articulate and just one of these men that you know is special and you want to be around. I knew then that I wanted to help tell his story and the Black Fire Records story.
So on his way out that day I told Plunky and his team that I want to do a documentary on him. Plunky’s a nice guy so he was like ‘sure’. I’m not sure if he knew what he was getting himself into when he said sure. About a week or two later, I heard about this community grant through Humanities DC. The deadline was in a week. So I contacted Plunky and I pitched him. We quickly started working on the grant document. We submitted the paperwork and didn’t think anything about it. A couple of months later, I received an email saying that we got the grant.
The reality is you can’t make a movie with a $10,000 grant, so we raised about another $20-25K from other sources, including Plunky, family, friends, and through a crowdsourcing campaign. We interviewed 19 people over several days, and we shot quality interviews with the understanding that we wanted to do something with the final product. So we had this wonderful film but near the end of Covid people were still hesitant to come inside in large crowds, so we rightly concluded that the best way to show off the film was to have a full-day of live performances of the music associated with the film, followed by a screening of the film at night. So the Home Rule Music Festival was really born out of our desire to support our documentary on Black Fire Records and to have the community better understand and appreciate DC’s music history and culture.
The festival morphed into a day of music, with vendors, food, and community organizations. The festival grew beyond our wildest expectations and dreams. We were over-achievers and in year one I think we had about 2500-3000 people show up. In year 2 we had closer to 4000 and in year three we programmed an even bigger festival.
The festival has grown into a year-long program that now takes a team with months of planning, effort, time and fundraising. This past year our budget was nearly $200K.
How do you see HR Records and the Home Rule Music Festival working hand-in-glove?
HR Records is our for-profit business, Home Rule Music and Film is our non-profit organization, and then the festival is a program that supports our strategic mission and vision. We have been thoughtful to separate our community engagement work, which is done through our non-profit, from our for-profit business.
Where do you see the Home Rule Music Festival advancing?
The Home Rule Music Festival wants to be the preeminent festival celebrating DC’s rich musical heritage and culture. With that being said, my grandmother once told me to be careful what I ask for because you may just get it. We clearly over-achieved starting with the first year of the festival growing in attendance, and with the number of vendors and sponsors participating. Producing an event of that size and caliber requires a team and months, if not a year of planning, and so the festival is kind of turning into a year-round program which is wonderful but obviously comes with challenges as well.
We’re currently working on developing an education program tentatively called The Uptown Arts Project that’s connected to the festival. The Uptown Arts Project focuses on teaching skills and providing experiential opportunities for youth in events production, filmmaking, music production, video editing, sound and lighting, and stage management. Our plan is to provide classes and structured activities that aim to increase the capacity of youth in DC to be productive and employed members of the arts community. A goal is to help youth develop media arts competencies and literacies to effectively participate in the modern digitally centered environment, and to achieve sell-sufficiency and economic enhancement.
Talk about your WPFW radio show and how that dovetails with your activities on behalf of jazz & arts.
I wish I was more thoughtful and intentional with my work with HR Records, Home Rule Music and Film, and with my personal work with WPFW as an on-air programmer. But frankly my work with WPFW is really just me having fun, and sharing my love of music with a hopefully interested and excited audience. I play what I know and love – jazz and soul music with a spiritual sound. Moreover, I feel I have a duty to not only preserve the stories of jazz history and culture in Washington, DC, but a right to show and tell everyone about it. At WPFW, I go on the air after the great Rusty Hassan. Sitting in the WPFW control room listening to stories from Rusty Hassan about jazz legends is worth the price of admission and the weekly overnight loss of sleep.
What can we look for from the Home Rule Music Festival in it’s 2025 incarnation?
We are still plowing through the 2024 Home Rule Music Festival. Due to the extreme heatwave this past summer, we re-scheduled part 2 of our festival and our celebration of go-go music to Saturday, October 26th. The date is quickly approaching so that’s our immediate focus. But obviously we’re already thinking about and planning for 2025. We’re going to be strategic with our growth, and we’re going to spread the Home Rule Music Festival to other areas of DC.
We’re going to build on what we do well and I think that’s the creation of a wonderful community of artists, supporters, vendors, sponsors and community organizations who are all there in the community to celebrate DC’s rich musical history and culture. So that’s what we’re about and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.