Stickin' it to the man while shopping at The Record Exchange

On Saturday morning I hopped into my car, equipped with pancakes and the required accoutrements, and headed downtown to meet Wally for coffee. The two of us had made plans to meet at Dawson Taylor on 8th street so that we could have breakfast, and then head to the Record Exchange for Record Store Day, before we had to be at work for the Kids' Lit Fest. Being oblivious to a fair number of events outside of the bookshop, I didn't realize until I walked through the alleyway that connects Capitol to 8th that it was the first Saturday Market of the year. In addition to the normal chaos of Saturday Market it was Earth Day, Robie Creek, and Record Store Day. So, needless to say, navigating through downtown was a bit of a task. After learning that Wally and I weren't going to be having breakfast after all, I skipped out on a very packed Dawson Taylor, and headed straight for the Record Exchange.

I'd been hearing about Record Store Day for quite some time, and was excited to do my part to support one of Boise's best local independents. I had made a decision the night before: I was going to spend the money alotted for my phone bill, which is through a major phone corporation, to support something that will put money back into Boise's economy. In short, I decided to stick it to the man, and participate in the local first movement- all at the same time!

After about 40 minutes of browsing at the RX, I checked out with a couple of amazingly priced used albums, and a copy of Weird Science, all for less than $20.00! While the lovely young lady was ringing me up, we discussed how comfortably snug the aisles were with people in to pay homage to a rarity in today's culture: a record store where the employees know just what you'll love, and genuinely want to keep this option open for generations to come.

So here's to the Record Exchange, and all other bad-ass local independent stores who help me to stick it to the man!


-Whitney