Today is Annual Record Store Day Record Store. More than 700 independent record stores across the world with joining with fans, sponsors and musicians for concerts and special promotional giveaways.
Three of my favorite indys are Waterloo Records in Austin, Grimey’s Records in Nashville and Amoeba Records right here in San Francisco. I briefly worked at a friend of mine’s indy record shop in Dallas (the now defunct VVV on Cedar Springs) so these places will always have a special place in my wallet.
You gotta hand it to the grassroots efforts of these shops and their sponsors. In the midst of a tough economy, ever more formulaic acts and big labels doing everything they can to destroy a viable business model for the future they are right there defying the odds. This reminds me of something…oh yeah…
Let’s just hope it’s not the record shops LAST act of defiance. Go buy some music you can hold in your damn hands!