ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Taylor Swift fan or not, the Swiftie surge is here.

Late Thursday night into Friday, the billionaire pop star surprised millions of fans with her new album titled “The Tortured Poets Department,” a secret double album.

All over metro Atlanta, record stores are already getting a big boost from Swift’s latest album release.

This surge in sales comes before Record Store Day on Saturday.

The annual celebration of independent record stores includes special releases, in-store performances and other festivities.

Saoirse Sikora is a regular customer at Criminal Records in Little Five Points.

“I like to come out and see what the exclusive releases are,” she said. “I try and get my hands on as many vinyls as I can.”

The 24-year-old has already collected over vinyl records.

Yet, she’ll be back at her favorite store on Saturday for Record Store Day.

“We live in such an incredibly digital age that there’s something special about getting to hold a physical piece of media,” Sikora said. “See all of the love and artistry put into it.”

Eric Levin has owned Criminal Records for the last 32 years.

He said business was booming on Friday thanks to Swift’s new double album.

“Taylor has brought in so many young customers into this store,” Levin said. “She has very much changed the demographics of what we sell here.”

Other record store owners, such as Jonathan Blanchard, who owns JB’s Record Lounge on the West End, said Record Store Day is his Super Bowl.

“Record Store Day brings an influx of income,” he said. “Triple or quadruple what we sell on a regular day.”

Levin also expects his sales to soar on Saturday.

“Every year has been more successful sales-wise than the prior year,” he said. “This year, we have the most special titles on offer with over 400 on sale.”

Blanchard also added that he’s seen a resurgence of teens buying music on vinyl and record players.

“A lot of younger people listen to people like Taylor and Beyoncé,” he said. “Whenever they drop an album and put it on vinyl, it brings more bodies into stores like mine.”

In the day and age of digital playlists, Sikora said there’s nothing quite like listening to a vinyl record.

“It takes you on more of a journey,” she said. “You start somewhere and you end in a different place emotionally.”

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.

Dutch Masters at the High
When: Opens Friday, April 19
Where: High Museum of Art
Cost: Free for members, $15 for “not-yet-members”
Details: This sweeping exhibit includes a breathtaking array of work from some of the finest painters of the Dutch cultural heyday of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, including Rembrandt, Frans Hal, and the celebrated female Dutch painter Rachel Ruysch. “Dutch Art in a Global Age” will be open through July, but stop by this weekend to get the first glimpse of this prodigious show.

EAV Earth Day Fest 
When: Saturday April 20, 12-5 p.m.
Where: EAV Community Park
Cost: Free
Details: Celebrate Earth Day in laid-back East Atlanta Village style with this free concert and pop-up market in the park. There will be live music from a host of local bands, a local makers market, and a plant swap. Enjoy tasty snacks in the grilled-cheese zone and make crafts with recycled materials. The event kicks off with yoga in the park: attendance is free, but sign up for a spot beforehand.

Kids Day at CHaRM Atlanta
When: Saturday, April 20, 9-12 p.m.
Where: New location of Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, Decatur
Cost: Free
Details: Help your kids celebrate Earth Day with this festival at CHaRM! The free event is bursting with activities for kids, including a petting zoo, a toy car-building workshop, a live observation beehive and honey samples, and science experiments and crafts galore. This event is at CHaRM’s new location in Decatur; the website has directions to the new location.

Sweetwater 420 Fest
When: Saturday, April 20-Sunday, April 21
Where: Pullman Yards
Cost: Free with $10 donation
Details: The Atlanta-based beer company celebrates its most popular brew with a two-day music and beer festival at Pullman Yards. The scaled-down party still includes a killer lineup, featuring St. Paul & the Broken Bones and Grace Potter on Saturday night and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Big Gigantic on Sunday. The concert is free with a  $10 donation to Waterkeeper Alliance, which advocates for clean and abundant water worldwide.

Lewis Black Live on Tour
When: Sunday, April 21, 7 p.m.
Where: Buckhead Theatere
Cost: $100+
Details: Legendary comedian and self-professed loudmouth Lewis Black says this is his last tour, and you can catch it at the Buckhead Theatere this weekend. The two-time Grammy Award winner uses his signature style—lots of yelling and finger-pointing—to make incisive points about the strange world we live in. Ticket purchase requires joining Black’s fan club.

Bonus Event: Atlanta Magazine’s GrillFest 
When: Saturday, April 20, 1-6 p.m.
Where: Union Hill Park, Alpharetta
Cost: $65 General Admission
Details: Join us for a welcome-summer event featuring grilled foods, local beer and craft cocktails, and live music! Meat-eaters and vegetarians alike will find plenty to snack on, courtesy of a diverse array of local chefs and partner restaurants. This 21+ event features delicious barbecue from Taylor’d BBQ, DAS BBQ, Socks’ Love BBQ, Mutt & Jeff’s Smokehouse No. 3, Farm Burger, and many more.

Sports Corner: Atlanta Home Games

• The Braves host the World Series Champion Texas Rangers at home for a three-match bout on April 19, 20, and 21st. Info here.
• Atlanta United takes on Cincinnati FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 20. Info here.

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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Uber has launched a new rider verification pilot program in Atlanta designed to increase driver safety.

Riders will now be “verified” to ensure they are who they claim to be.

Uber officials said they aim to promote trust and give drivers additional peace of mind.

Denise Howard has been an Uber driver in Atlanta for over seven years.

“I don’t feel safe picking up rides in the Atlanta area,” she said. “Especially at night.”

For this reason, Howard only picks people up from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“I only do airport rides because the people who are coming in have gone through security and they’re easier to identify,” she said.

Starting Thursday, you could see a blue verification checkmark on your Uber account if you live in the Atlanta area or 11 other cities.

Heather Childs, Uber’s chief trust and security officer, explained the thought process behind the new verification process.

“Our drivers want to feel safe and have confidence that they’ll be safe on the road,” she said. “We built this feature to have more trust and more safety on our platform.”

For accounts that aren’t immediately verified, riders can upload government-issued identification, such as a picture of their driver’s license or a passport.

Alfred Rawls is an Uber driver who frequently picks up passengers at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

He appreciates the rideshare company’s stress on safety.

“If I were to pick somebody up and take them somewhere, if I happened to go out of the way, I would get an alert from Uber asking me if I’m okay,” Rawls said. “I think that’s also a pretty good feature that they have to ensure that.”

If you aren’t verified, you can still ride with Uber.

Although a driver such as Howard has the option whether or not to pick you up.

“I’d like to see the picture of the person that I’m picking up,” she said. “Just like they can see my picture.”

Attorney J. Edward Shipp sees it differently. He believes that Uber’s rider verification raises concerns about discrimination.

“It may be used to discriminate against riders that drivers don’t want to pick up,” Shipp said. “Harkening back to the days of taxi drivers refusing to pick up certain minorities when they saw them hailing a taxi.”

This verification process is a pilot program. It will not perform criminal background checks on riders.

Uber has always performed criminal and traffic background checks on its drivers.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.