Happy National Record Store Day!

Be sure to hear out to your favorite record store day - the real kind - not the big box chain stores. Undeniably these indie record stores have shaped me as a person over the years by feeding my obsession with music as well as teaching me a thing or two.

Independent record stores all over the globe are uniting together to make today a true celebration of the special unique shopping experience they offer. These stores live and breathe music, a passion they bring their customer base every single day.

National Record Store Day is a gentle reminder that not only are they still out there, but many are better than ever.

I never thought I would see this age come but with the rise of digital music, especially among those under the age of 20, many people have either forgotten actual physical record stores exist or for those a little younger, that they exist at all. I can't imagine the death of these stores no less the loss of physical product who offer consumers music as a full package. Something tangible and collectible that comes with the artist's full vision including art and often liner notes featuring things like lyrics. I know some people believe the songs are just what defines an artist but any true music fan knows the artist's bigger picture includes cover art, insert, and or booklet. MP3s are invisible and while they may offer an easy quick purchase, they lack quality in sound and the heart and soul of an artist. Plus if your computer crashes or your iPod dies just think of the disaster losing all those songs would be. For those of us with the real thing we always have a back up and a better sounding / looking one at that. Digital music serves its purpose but it isn't the top shelf quality music is meant to be nor do I believe it allows some listeners to take this art form seriously. Music files are expendable, disposable and now often free to those who file share. This in turn creates the concept that music doesn't deserve to be paid for which in turn fuels the idea that musicians don't deserve to be treated with the respect of being comepensated for their recorded creations. For those of you downloading new releases for free you are thieves stealing music and the bigger crime is these artists you love are suffering the consequences. I will never understand why some people don't think artists should be paid for the work and that if a band wants to make money from their art then they should do so by touring and selling merch. Well guess what, their music is also part of the merch. Duh.

Click on the link above for more information on National Record Store Day and see what store near you is participating as well as all the cool limited CDs and records these indie stores are selling and giving away. Many retailers are also having bands play live, DJs spin, offering huge sales, and all sorts of other great surprises. On top of al that record labels and music distributors banded together to offer their support and have donated one of a kind samplers to pass on to the folks who support National Record Store by shopping in these local ma & pa's.

For those of you in Richmond here is what is going on at Plan 9:

"Celebrate Record Store Day this weekend at Plan 9! We'll be having a STOREWIDE 20% OFF SALE! Everything in the store will be 20% off Saturday April 19th and Sunday April 20th! We have some great giveaways from your favorite labels: Subpop, Matador, Vice, Nonesuch, Brushfire and more! And we have a bunch of exclusive releases from Vampire Weekend, Josh Ritter, REM, Black Keys, Death Cab For Cutie in VERY limited quantities that they have released just for Record Store Day!"

Check out all our events we're planning too!

11:30 a.m. Concice Records showcase 3:00 p.m. Loose Gravel 4:30 p.m. Meditate Motherf*ckers6:00 p.m. Saving Abel 7:30 p.m. Horsehead

I will be at Plan 9 for a good portion of the day helping them out in whatever capacity I can. Hope to see you there and happy record shopping!