Record Store Day releases with local interest

Among the hundreds of limited-edition Record Store Day releases that will hit shelves this weekend are two sure to be of interest to local music fans.

Kiss the Sky Records in Geneva hopes to have copies of “Made in Aurora,” a special compilation of suburban artists, available for purchase. The release will be available as a vinyl LP, with a CD enclosed in the package.

Kiss the Sky co-owner Steve Warrenfeltz said the project came about when local musicians met in the store and talked about how difficult it is to get their music made and heard. Warrenfeltz decided to help out by bringing 11 different bands to Backthird Audio in Aurora to record 16 songs.

“It came out of bull sessions at the store, really,” Warrenfeltz said. “I'm so glad we could help spread the word about some great local artists.”

Most of the songs fall in the rootsy “Americana” genre, Warrenfeltz said. Proceeds from the project will be donated to the Paul Ruby Foundation, which supports research for a cure to Parkinson's disease. For details, go to madeinaurora.com.

Also scheduled to come out on Record Store Day is a live record from acclaimed Chicago label Bloodshot Records, one of the leading lights of the local music scene. The release, titled “No One Got Hurt: Bloodshot's 15th Anniversary @ the Hideout Chicago,” features 19 songs from bands who performed at the anniversary party back in September 2009 at the Hideout, a North Side club. Among the artists represented are Chicago favorites the Blacks, the Waco Brothers and the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.

Most Chicago-area stores will have copies of the compilation, but supplies will be limited. For info, go to bloodshotrecords.com.