Photo by Howard Owens
Like any serious collector of vinyl records, Cheektowaga resident Joe Spath comes across many decades old records with little to no value—copies of the soundtrack to “South Pacific,” for example, or any Mitch Miller LP. Ditto Burl Ives. To say these records are a dime a dozen is to overstate their value.
That's why Spath grabs those records from the pile when he finds them to turn them into wall art.
Using computer-guided cutting tools, Spath turns the vinyl records into tributes to legendary artists, such as Chuck Berry, Paul McCartney, Elton John, ABBA, the Bee Gees, and so on.
He carves an artist's image or logo into the record and prints out a faux record label he downloads from the Web to cover over the original less desirable label.
Spath is one of the vendors this weekend at the Oakfield Labor Daze Music & Food Festival.
He started cutting records about 12 years ago.
"I've been doing this because it makes people happy," the Navy veteran said Sunday.
A former DJ, Spath said he has cataloged in his collection of "keepers" 8,000 LPs, 2,000 45s, 1,500 CDs, and even a lot of cassettes.
The collection spans the 1940s to the 2000s and pretty much every genre of music.
"Variety is the spice of life," he said.
There are close to three dozen vendors at the festival this weekend.
Photo by Howard Owens
