The Instigator
When I launched Press Play magazine, it was print only. You could find it in art galleries and coffee shops, at theaters, restaurants, and your favorite watering holes. But that was it. You had to go out into Salem to find it, which was a major reason for its existence. My goal was (and still is) to help people explore what Salem had (and still has) to offer and to introduce readers to the people, places, and things to do in our city.
Over the years, Press Play has grown beyond the printed page. We have a website, a weekly newsletter, and social media, yet each issue I pull together reminds me how much I value the magazine and the process of making something tangible. This issue is filled with that same appreciation for the people in Salem making, preserving, and sharing creative work you can hold: pressing records at Object Permanence, presenting Richard Stefani’s photographs of Celilo Falls, producing CDs at Atomic Disc, and publishing books at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, ensuring the art is remembered long after the exhibition comes down. Different processes, different objects, all made to be experienced in the physical world. I share their stories here as a record of this moment.
I hope this issue, and the stories it holds, finds a place on your bookshelf or coffee table. Years from now, may it offer a glimpse of Salem in this moment. The people who were creating here. The music being made. The art on the walls. The places we gathered. A reflection of what was. Human-made. Preserved in print. And, with any luck, still here.
Carlee Wright
Instigator (& Editor)
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 29 (Fall 2026)
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