By Niki D'Andrea
Saturday, April 19 marks National Record Store Day, whereupon hundreds of independent record stores across our great nation will celebrate the (sadly) dying breed of “mom & pop” music shops through sales, giveaways, food, and live music.
Many nationally-known musicians will be performing at stores throughout the country (Metallica does the official kick-off at Rasputin Music near San Francisco), and many have contributed quotes for the cause: “It's important to keep indie record stores alive because their unique environments introduce music lovers to things in a very personal way,” says Norah Jones; “If we lose the independent record store, we lose big,” says Henry Rollins; and our favorite -- “You can't roll a joint on an iPod -- buy vinyl!” says Shelby Lynne.
A handful of Phoenix's finest independent record stores will be celebrating National Record Store day on Saturday, April 19, and we wanted to give you the 411 on all the fun.
Stinkweeds: 12 W. Camelback Road www.stinkweeds.com
In addition to some delicious barbecue grub, Stinkweeds will offer discounts on its music, goodie bags filled with new releases and swag, and live music from Dario and His Emo Mtn. Crybabies; Out of Reverie; Sleepwalk, A Robot, and more.
Revolver Records: 4214 N. 7th Avenue www.myspace.com/revolver_records
This store has the largest selection of vinyl out of any record store in the city, and will celebrate by offering choice records from its $1 bin at three for a buck.
Zia Record Exchange: www.myspace.com/ziaevents
All Zia locations will be offering a limited number of Record Store Day T-shirts for a dollar to customers who purchase more than twenty dollars' worth of music, and all locations will premiere the You Heard Us Back When… compilation, which features 21 songs by Phoenix artists. Each store will also have its own live entertainment:
Chandler: 1940 W. Chandler Boulevard Thrice
Phoenix: 3851 E. Thunderbird Road (pending) I Wish, and Victim Number 4
Phoenix: 1940 W. Indian School Road DJ Muggs and Sick Jacken
Local stores Tracks in Wax (4741 N. Central Ave.) and Eastside Records (217 W. University Drive in Tempe) have been rumored to be participating on some level, but we haven't gotten the particulars yet.
For more information on Record Store Day, visit www.recordstoreday.com.
