Saturday, April 21 is that special day for music fans, and people who love the communal joy of discovering and buying new music in their local store.  It’s Record Store Day, the annual salute to independent record stores throughout the United States, the stores that still hold a special place in people’s hearts as a gathering place to hold the music in their hands and find their own musical nirvana.

I’ve reminisced before about some of the places where I’ve purchased my music in the past, and admittedly they meant a lot to me, whether they were the small stores, or chains with record departments.  And sadly, as we’re seeing with other retailers that are closing, or chains that will stop selling CDs, those places are just fond memories as we’re living in an online world.  But I do have all those wonderful records and CDs.  By the way, the term “record store” is no longer the anachronism it once was, because vinyl records are very much alive and well.   There were sales of some 14 million vinyl LPs in 2017, with the 50th anniversary release of The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” being the top seller.  And those numbers have been growing for the past 12 years.

There will be some special releases for the day from many of your favorite artists such as Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, The Eurhythmics, Prince, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, and many more.  So if you have a few dollars left over from your tax refund (if you got one, that is) it will be worth the trip to add something to your collection and show some love to the independent record stores.

Here’s where you can find the stores that are participating, and the special releases:    www.recordstoreday.com

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