For the past 11 months, John Kihlmire and Kane Licari have poured their souls into a new version of The Vinyl Room, a shrine to the glory days of recorded music. Now, it’s crunch time and interest in their new Beacon venue is high, but they’re keeping the opening low-key to maintain the element of surprise.
Paper covers the windows and the front and back doors are locked, even though plenty of work is going on inside. A QR code, available to scan from the sidewalk, links to their Instagram account, which offers some teasers of the club’s look.
“People keep asking ‘when are you going to open, when are you going to open?’ and we can’t wait to finally get there,” says Licari. The answer is sometime in the first week of August.
Kihlmire first launched the record store-meets-bar concept in Wappingers Falls in 2017, inspired by a shop he had come across in Colorado where records, books, and vintage pinball machines offered an intimate, retro feel. The OG Vinyl Room boasted turntables, cassettes, CDs, and over 8,000 records of every genre. With live music sets every weekend, it quickly became a well-known destination for hip hop fans in the area and as far south as New York City, with Guest DJs like Large Professor and Smif-N-Wessun making the trip up. Situated next door to Wagon Wheel Pizza, they cut a slot in the wall to slip the slices through.
The club first moved to Beacon in July 2021, but that incarnation, located in a chichi new apartment building, ran afoul of neighbors (except for the ones that came down to party). The place also had no room for their extensive record collection or arcade game consoles. “People who knew us in Wappingers inevitably asked, ‘Where’s the records? Where’s the Ms. Pac-Man?’ Finally, we can roll them out,” says Kihlmire.Now, in what is presumably their final location, they will occupy a brick building that they bought on Main Street away from any residences, except for the two apartments upstairs from the club, which will be rented on Airbnb and also used to help lure top DJs to Beacon.
The Vinyl Room will be open seven days a week and hang late-ish, until 11pm on weekdays, 2am on weekends, and 10pm on Sundays), though the cut-off times aren’t set in stone. “If the place is full, I’m not yelling out ‘last call,’” Licari says. “If there are 75 people in the house, then I’m letting the party roll on.”
Expanding from 1,200 to 3,700 square feet lets them bring back the vinyl, which they both buy and sell, and plug back in the video games. DJs will once again spin records on turntables: no Serato software allowed.
To what was a former furniture store, they’ve added a garage door and created a plush main level that seems longer and wider than it is. Records and photos adorn the walls. Hanging over one booth is a framed collection of thirty 45 rpm singles. Couches add a cozy vibe and exposed brick is the dominant motif. The games are located in the basement. On July 11, DJ Tekwun stopped by and wrote “amazed with the new spot. Y’all gonna definitely enjoy it.” He will be spinning 45s once they open.
Kihlmire and Licari love music. They came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, with a penchant for rap, but they’re versed in older styles. At the new club, they will again buy and sell records—a reputation that precedes them. (Someone recently dropped off a cache of 78 rpm singles from the 1920s and 1930s.) Though they typically specialize in music from 1960 on, they also admire Sinatra, Coltrane, and other iconic performers. Genres they’re not so keen on? Country, classical, show tunes, and big band.
But the main focus? Finding common ground, with music as the throughline. “We’re about positivity and creating a place where everyone feels welcome,” says Licari. “Politics, religion—leave it at the door. If you’re a music fanatic, this place is like a time machine with the flux capacitor from Back to the Future, celebrating the greatest musical eras.”
A chef is designing the menu, which will be more diverse and higher-end than anything Wagon Wheel Piazza could devise. Expect small plates from $15 to $20. The duo has also hired a consultant to develop an extensive cocktail menu. Kihlmire showed off a couple of concoctions on his phone, but the details on the food and drinks are still being hammered out.
“We are going all in on this, trying to make everything the best it can be,” says Kihlmire. “We’ve put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears. You could say that what we’re doing is raising the bar.”
The Vinyl Room celebrates its grand opening weekend on Friday, August 11 with a live set from DJ Tekwun and Saturday, August 12 with music from The Vinyl Kid.
The Vinyl Room
396 Main Street, Beacon
www.tvrny.com
(845) 297-3344
