The needle drops, the bracket fills and the debate begins. For University of Georgia alumni Shawn Farmer and Craig Vennes, music isn’t just for listening — it’s for competing. In their new podcast, “Vinyl Four,” the duo pits classic albums from Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list against each other, one vinyl spin at a time, until only four records remain.
“We were just racking our brains, ‘What are we gonna call this thing?,’” Farmer said. “It just occurred to me one day that would be a good title for it because it is a play on exactly what we’re doing, which is, every week is a final four.”
The co-hosts want to gauge a broad audience and believe “Vinyl Four” can appeal to anyone with an interest in music, regardless of age or background.
“We’ve had this conversation about [how] our generation was not listening to music that went back nearly as far as what the new generation is,” Vennes said. “Kids now in 2025 are listening to this stuff from 1960, and, so, to think about something going back that far, their exposure and their ability to find music, everything’s so readily available, to me, lends itself perfectly to this.”
As newer generations continue rediscovering old favorites, Farmer said his own music taste and appreciation has only increased since living in a melting-pot of a city like Athens with so many different musicians and music types.
“To me, that’s the excitement of a town like Athens because there’s so many artists here,” Farmer said. “There’s so many people that are talented and play instruments, and then they get bands together, and just because you’ve never heard of them, just because they don’t have an album out yet, you find these bands and go, ‘Wow, they’re really good.’”
The co-hosts are equally passionate about music and podcasting and are appreciative that they can engage with an audience that enjoys what they have to say.
“Music is a tough business, it’s a really tough business,” Vennes said. “So, to me, having a podcast and being able to put my voice out there and to talk with somebody that’s equally as passionate, it’s huge, because it’s an outlet, like I said, it’s definitely a labor of love and a passion play for us. I think without it, I would be a little lost.”
Looking ahead, Vennes hopes listeners of “Vinyl Four” will gain knowledge about albums that they did not know before and walk away with a smile.
“We just want people to know that we love it, we’re passionate about it, we’re educated on it, and so hopefully they can take away from a little less intimidation on some of these albums that can seem a little bigger than they really are, and have fun with it,” Vennes said. “Music is supposed to be fun.”
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