This could be you. Shopping away at CD Central on someone else’s dime

MP3: These United States – I Want You to Keep Everything

These United States are coming back to their halfway-hometown in Lexington, KY to celebrate the release of their new album Everything Touches Everything and to play the opening night of Buster’s Billards and Backroom (Sept 4). With two fantastic instances such as these occuring so near each other, we knew we had to do something special. That’s why You Ain’t No Picasso and These United States have joined forces to send one lucky reader/fan on a $50 vinyl shopping spree at CD Central, guided by the band members themselves.

Read below for full details/rules/entry.

Thanks to generous donations from CD Central and United Interests and Buster’s, the winner of this contest will get a $50 gift certificate to CD Central and a pair of tickets to TUS’ September 4 show with Wax Fang and Chico Fellini. Because of the Lexington-centric nature of this contest, please don’t enter if you can’t be in Lexington the day of the show and possibly the day after. Now the fun part.

How to Enter the contest and what you can expect if you win
To enter, leave a comment here describing your personal approach to record — that’s vinyl — collecting. If you only buy the pricey “must haves” like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and OK Computer, if you like to go diving in the used bins or if you’re just starting out — whatever. Just lay it all in the comments, along with some record finds/purchases that have made you particularly happy.

Now, if you win you’ll get a $50 coupon to CD Central to be spent ONLY ON VINYL. The catch is that it’s not up to you to spend it. It’s going to These United States, who will walk around the store with you, talk to you, ask questions of you and eventually decide what records you need to take home with you. Luckily they have great taste in music, so you can trust them pretty well.

These United States will pick a winner Friday, August 28 in order to work out between the winner/TUS’ schedule if the shopping spree will be Friday before the show or the Saturday following. So be sure to leave an email address that you check regularly because if you don’t get back to me the day I email you, it’s going to the next person on the list. Also, don’t enter if you aren’t OK with me photographing your shopping spree to post on YANP.

So get to writing! And Lexington, take this as an “I Love You” from your pals in These United States and at You Ain’t No Picasso.