Remember the record store

I need a record store fix. Maybe you need one too. But unless we live in a big city, it's about as easy to find a good independent record shop as it is to find a telephone booth. And that's a shame.

It's not even easy to locate a decent CD store. The only quality store in my town, Boogie Woogie, has been closed for months. The only other one I'm familiar with here is too dreadful to name. I tried to trade some used CDs there recently and was offered $1 a disc -- and they were only accepting CDs that were no more than two years old. What's that about?

It makes me pine for my two favorite record shops: Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, and Grimey's in Nashville. (Both were featured in a 2008 Paste magazine story "The Record Store: A Good Thing''). I wish I could be in either of them today to hunt for old vinyl gems, check out the latest imports and just mill around in a cool environment where music is the common denominator.

Hundreds of independent shops around the country will celebrate National Record Store Day on April 18, so go to http://recordstoreday.com/ and find a shrine near you. Then visit, or be vinyl.