If the owner of Home Rule Records Charvis Campbell When he received an unsolicited call from the office of the Vice President of the United States on May 3, 2023, he felt like most people faced with the same situation: perplexed.
“It felt like a job interview, like a background check,” says Campbell Billboard“When we finished, I thought, ‘Wait, this is kind of weird.'”
But the calls continued. Next, VP Kamala Harris‘ representative asked if anyone from the Uptown Washington, D.C., record store would be at the store that day and mentioned that someone from the office might stop by. Then Campbell got another call from another representative who strongly recommended he stick around. The next thing he knew, the Secret Service was coming to inspect the 250-square-foot independent record store — and then the vice president followed.
When Vice President Harris was surrounded by a swarm of press, Campbell tried to help her in the store by asking her what she might be interested in. “I said, ‘Okay, you want to talk about Coltrane?’ and she said, ‘No, I want Mingus.’ She was looking for real jazz,” says Campbell. “She had a strong sense of wanting real hardcore music.”
On May 9, Harris posted a video on Instagram showing her leaving HR Records – which specializes in used jazz, soul, R&B, funk and more – with three vinyl records: Charles Mingus’ Let my children listen to music (“one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time”); Roy Ayers’ Everyone loves the sunshine (one of her “favorite albums of all time”); and Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “beautiful” 1959 joint album, Porgy and Bess.
“It was one of those things that wasn’t planned,” says Campbell, adding that Vice President Harris asked about the challenges of running his small business and spoke with several people who happened to be in the store. “It was very unexpected, but sincere in the sense that she enjoyed the music and wanted to learn more about the store.”
“For me,” Campbell adds, “it was, ‘There are a lot of other places you can be right now, but the fact that you took the time shows that you support small businesses, but also our store.'”
Following Harris’ visit and her subsequent nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate, Campbell says HR’s social media engagement has increased significantly, with out-of-town visitors stopping by to take a photo where Harris once stood. It’s been a boon for one of the few black-owned record stores in the country (Campbell estimates there are only about 20 to 30 nationwide), let alone such a young business.
Campbell and his business partner Michael Bernstein opened HR Records in 2018 with no experience in the music business (although Bernstein had worked as an independent musician for many years before that). Campbell had been driving regularly from DC to Baltimore to buy vinyl at the small independent shop East-West Records until its owner, Bill CoatesCampbell announced that the store would be closing permanently.
“I teased the owner and said, ‘Hey, if we bring this to DC, we’ll make money,'” Campbell says. “Being the wise man he was, he said, ‘No, you don’t want to get into the record business.'”
Campbell wasn’t discouraged and bought Coates’ entire collection. He quickly realized he had to do something with it. At first, the collection went to the back of an antique store for about six months before Campbell and Bernstein found a location for HR Records. In 2018, they opened their doors at 702 Kennedy Street NW and began selling exclusively used vinyl.
Kamala Harris goes shopping with owner Charvis Campbell at Home Rule Records in Washington, DC on May 3, 2023.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
HR Records has no shortage of inventory: thousands of files are packed in bins and adorn the walls. (“Too many to count,” says Campbell.)
In addition to vinyl, the store also carries CDs and merchandise, each of which makes up about 10% of its inventory. The other 80% is a curated collection of rare and used jazz, soul, reggae and African music records. Although the store participated in Record Store Day, Campbell found it overwhelming for such a small and specialized shop. “I’d rather have that 1968 Blue Note hanging on the wall than the reissue,” he says. “The reissue sounds great, but I’d choose the original any day.”
To fill the boxes with rare vinyl, Campbell had to build relationships with many private collectors, which he sees as the hardest and most enjoyable part of his job. “As soon as we sell that great Sun Ra or Coltrane or Eric Dolphy record, it’s gone,” Campbell says. “That’s what I think (Coates) meant. It’s going to take time and effort to build a place where people feel comfortable giving you their records, so that records come in.”
It took Campbell years to amass many collections, but he says the effort was worth it. Building these relationships with private collectors has led to even bigger opportunities, like the creation of the HR Music and Film Foundation, which grew out of the store’s COVID relief work for musicians by hosting performances on the small stage in the back of the store, filming them, and promoting the videos and artists on their social media. After about 15 performances, the HR team realized they could get more support if they started a nonprofit.
Today, the HR Music and Film Foundation hosts live music performances, concerts, film screenings, and festivals. It also trains youth in the community through workshops, classes, and hands-on experiences so they can develop confidence and skills in music production, audio production, filmmaking, photography, and graphic design. The foundation’s first project was a documentary about Black Fire Records, an independent, black-owned jazz label founded in DC in the 1970s. In support of the film, the foundation hosted a local outdoor festival in 2022 with live music and an evening screening of the documentary. The third annual Home Rule Music Festival was held in June, and the documentary aired on PBS in 2023.
“When I think about the work we’ve done now with our foundation and the documentaries,” says Campbell, “it’s about combining the medium of film with music. It’s so powerful when it comes to telling stories and educating people and our community.”
More in this series: Grimey’s in Nashville, Tennessee; Twist & Shout in Denver, Colorado.
