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livingtalk Record Store Day PA U L K R A J E W S K I P H OT O G R A P H Y: B A R O N P H OT O G R A P H I C S Officially launched on April 19, 2008, Record Store Day is a celebration of our local independent music stores, and is celebrated around the world on the third Saturday of April. B E F O R E S P O T I F Y, S O U N D C L O U D , I T U N E S , or even the Internet, music junkies had to go down to their local record store for their music fix. They would flip through record after record in search of the perfect album, and if they couldn’t find the right jingle to fix that tingle, they’d talk to the dude behind the counter–their version of today’s Google–and he’d tell them what’s hot, what’s not, and suggest a gem or two. For many of us born before the turn of the century, the local record store was our primary inlet into the vast waters of music. It defined our tastes, enhanced our likes, and solidified our love for music, and now every April we celebrate the culture, music, and fellowship of our local music shop on Record Store Day. “It’s meant to celebrate the mom-and-pop, brick and mortar real record shops–not the online stores or the big chains, but the independent record store that we were so 12 LETHBRIDGELIVING.COM accustomed to back in the heyday, my heyday, the ’80s,” says Mike Molloy, Owner of Blueprint Records–Lethbridge’s independent music shop. To celebrate the day, “Labels and bands got together and put out special releases just for that day–whether they were re-issues or brand new recordings, they were only available through independent record shops, and it ballooned from there. It started out rather small in the U.S. and is now an international event.” Record Store Day officially launched on April 19, 2008, at the Rasputin Music record store in San Francisco, with legendary rock band Metallica headlining the event. However, like most, Mike only learned about the event after it had passed. By the following year, enthusiasm for the event had spread like wildfire, and Blueprint Records, like countless other stores across North America, joined the party. Record Store Day is now celebrated annually in thousands of cities in countries on every continent, except MAR-APR 2016