Ferris State senior Jerry Wayne Newson is showing his love for classic records and irreplaceable tunes by putting his turntable to good use.
Newson, a music industry management senior, says Classic Vinyl Fridays are the brainchild of Reference and Instruction Librarian Mari Kermit-Canfield, of FLITE. Wayne learned of the idea and the collection of thousands of vinyl records housed at FLITE in Fall 2013.
“There are records of Journey, Morris Day and the Time, Prince, Run DMC and the list goes on. There are lecture series, R& B, Rap, Rock, Hair bands – just a complete smorgasbord of vinyl,” Newson said.
For several months, Wayne joined forces with Kermit-Canfield to try and get Vinyl Fridays and Ferris’ Bulldog Radio on an FM station. After being shut down, Newson decided the project wasn’t going to go anywhere for the semester. This turned around when he saw a poster in FLITE featuring Classic Vinyl Fridays and decided to start spinning as D JNew.
“Anywhere from 30 to 80 people [show up] with tons of people passing by saying hi and not shy to ask questions,” Newson said.
Newson is currently using all of his equipment to spin records in FLITE, but a purchase list of new equipment will be proposed soon. Lugging all of his equipment across campus, Newson is grateful to bring his and Kermit-Canfield’s vision to life. Wayne says his best experience doing Classic Vinyl Fridays is just being a part of something new and exciting.
Classic Vinyl Fridays began in February and are held every Friday from noon to 2 p.m. in the Extended Hours area of FLITE. Students, faculty and community members are welcome to bring a snack and join D JNew in spinning vinyl and listening to all different types of classic music.