I’ve been a little quiet about the upcoming Record Store Day, but as April 18 quickly approaches, I’m going to be ramping up coverage of the event. For those that don’t know, Record Store Day was the brainchild of a group of vinyl enthusiasts that strive to keep independent music retailers from crashing and burning in the wake of the collapse of the major label record industry.

In the last few years, I’ve watched as dozens of local record shops have closed their doors, including Let It Rock, Crazy Rhythms, as well as a handful of non-descript used vinyl stores. I’ve been lucky enough to still have a handful of big shops like Vintage Vinyl within driving distance, but it is getting tough to hunt down new records.

I won’t lie, I steal music off the Internet. If I don’t know the artist, but have some vague curiosity about the band, I will hunt down the record on some random Spanish or German blog site and download it. If it sucks, it gets delegated to my iTunes discount bin. But if it’s good, I make every effort to buy the record (preferably on vinyl) from a local indie retailer or directly from the band if I catch them on tour.

I’m sure I’m partially responsible for the downfall of the music industry, but I’m also pretty certain that a large number of today’s youth are following the same tactic: Support what’s good, ignore what’s not.

In less than a month, hundreds of indie record stores are going to be selling dozens of limited release records from bands like Slayer and the Gaslight Anthem. Find a shop on the list, drive over to a local shop, and spend some money on some good music.