To some like myself this Saturday, April 16 is more than just another way to battle the emotional roller coaster Utah spring weather graces us with.  It’s a day unlike any other for a music lover.  It’s Record Store Day, a day to avoid the internet download and the megastore and move your pasty, sun-deprived legs down to your local music store and celebrate the fact that, well, celebrate that you still have a local music store to go to.  We all have horror stories of music havens and basement shops lost along the way. Thankfully, Salt Lake City has a selection of independent businesses that embrace and cultivate the spirit of music appreciation and the innate need to keep that community thriving.

There are plenty of reasons to drop by Randy’s or Slowtrain or Graywhale or Uprok (just make sure the SLC Marathon does not frustrate your journey) but most important is to actually attend the festivities these local businesses present.  Among its many meanings, ‘living locally’ also means showing a bit of audio solidarity with your local small business owner struggling to sell just enough hot jams and indie experimentalism to eek out a living.  I don’t want to inflate the overall importance of buying an obscure punk 7” or for stopping and nodding your head at an in-store live set on Saturday, but the physical presence of a community that more and more lives in a faceless online culture should not be ignored especially by its audience in residence.

In short, find a reason, any reason to show up.  The reason you start with will not be the one you leave with.  For most this will not be hard, but in case you need any coaxing a concise list of Saturday’s goings on across downtown can be found here. I am sure to see you there.  Somewhere.