If you grew up going to record stores, it's practically a scientific fact that there's a heavily creased poster of Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix or Duran Duran still rolled up in the corner of your mom's garage even as we type this sentence.
What? We're wrong? Because the poster is currently hanging above your bed, because it is too awesome to take down? We stand corrected. But we do know this about you: You do now, and always will, love a record store.
Record Store Day, which spins on Saturday, April 20, taps into the feeling that millions of us share. It isn't simply a nostalgia for a time before major technological shifts forever changed how we consume entertainment. It's the knowledge that mom-and-pops play a vital role in our communities, and not just on the "buy our stuff" front. We turn to them for recommendations, conversation, and a shared experience.
Where will you be sharing all of your rock 'n roll or new wave or jazz or classical love on April 20? Southern California bursts with quality shops, from the mega Amoeba to smaller, passionate joints like Echo Park's Origami Vinyl. Special happenings and general come-out-and-hang goodness shall prevail.
There's even a truck this year -- naturally -- purveying in your vinyl needs. It's called the Record Truck and you can find out where its throwing the brakes down here.
Ultimately it isn't about being a hipster and claiming vinyl is superior or digging cassette tapes over CDs or trusting a shop owner's recommendation over an interesting blog. Music love flows from the same source and wells to drink from still thrive in our town. Record stores.
Put that sentiment on a poster and hang it above your bed.
