Got plans this weekend? Record Store Day is this Saturday! Here's what it means in Boise and why you should care:

Record Store Day (RSD) is first and foremost a day to celebrate the art of music and culture of record stores. It’s a tribute to the connection, community, and discovery that happens amongst rows of records in shops around the world.

It's also your chance to find some really great music. Each year, a long list of exclusive albums, small run or regional releases, and RSD-first releases become available. In-store events like artist meet-and-greets and performances usually take place as well.

We are lucky enough to have some kick ass record stores in the Boise Valley to go celebrate at. Disc-Cover Records is on 1st Street in Nampa; Idaho Vinyl Records is on Cleveland Blvd in Caldwell; Modern Sounds Vinyl and Music is on Vista Ave in Boise; The Record Exchange is on the corner of 11th and Idaho in downtown Boise.

The Boise connection

The Record Exchange has been a Boise icon since opening its doors in 1977. It’s Idaho’s largest independent record store and one of 1,400 independent record stores in the nation.

Also, fun fact: Michael Bunnell, co-owner of the RX, also happens to be a co-founder of Record Store Day.

In 2007, Bunnell met up with a group of other indie record store owners at an annual event called Noise in the Basement, held in Baltimore. Things were a little rough for record store owners at the time. Stores were getting bought out by the big guys – Tower Records, Virgin, and Musicland, and digital piracy from sites like Napster was all the rage.

Bunnell joined a group of fellow record store owners Michael Kurtz, Chris Brown, Carrie Colliton, and Eric Levin that were inspired by the success of Free Comic Book Day and organized themselves to create a similar event celebrating independent record stores. They were met with immediate enthusiasm from artists and got record labels involved to create a day of exclusive events and releases.

The inaugural Record Store Day was held on April 18, 2008 and had about 500 stores participating. Today, more than 1,400 US stores and thousands of record stores internationally participate in the annual event.

The RSD shift

Record Store Day has been credited with helping fuel the resurgence of vinyl and album sales, and sustaining independent record stores across the world.

In 2007, the year before Record Store Day launched, vinyl sales in the U.S. totaled 990,000. In 2008, nearly every Record Store Day beat the previous years record for vinyl and album sales, with indie stores accounting for a growing percentage of sales. In 2020, vinyl sales in the US topped out at 27.5 million.

Record Store Day 2020 was split into three days in August, September and October. By the end of the second Record Store Day in September, “industry-wide year-to-date vinyl album sales jumped past 15 million (climbing to 15.47 million) – up 31.2% compared to the same point a year ago. Focusing just on indie store vinyl album sales, volume has now surpassed 6 million (6.07 million) – up 12.6% compared to a year ago,” according to Billboard.

Local Record Shops

Record Exchange

Modern Sounds Vinyl & Music

Thanks for reading and happy listening!

With love from Boise,

-Marissa
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