It's no news that these are tough economic times for small businesses of all stripes, but one imagines that independent record stores might be feeling especially hard-hit, between the general downturn and the industry-specific problems they face (mostly the supposedly crippling scourge of file sharing). And yet, as Dave Segal reported in The Stranger last month ("Are We in a Music Retailspin?" and "Download, but Not Out," March 11), our local record shops are, if not thriving at mid-'90s levels, then at least surviving.

Much of this is due to some smart adaptation toward a more collector- (read: vinyl-) oriented model. In an age when any unscrupulous, cash-strapped kid can download almost any album he/she wants with a simple Google search, competitive stores know that they need to offer something the internet can't, whether that's a sense of real social space, the promise of live performances, or the chance to buy records that are valuable not just for the musical data contained therein, but as physical artifacts in their own right. This Saturday, April 17, all three of those aspects come together in the form of the third annual Record Store Day, a nationally coordinated event that celebrates and supports independent record shops around the country.

Here's a rundown of what some stores are doing:

Sonic Boom will host live performances from Minus the Bear at its new Capitol Hill store and Danny Barnes at its Ballard shop.

Bop Street Records in Ballard will have performances from Slow Skate and Proud Wonderful Me.

Silver Platters will have Amber Pacific, HIM, and members of the Wailers, the Sonics, the Ventures, and more at its Queen Anne location, and local American Idol contestant/beat-boxer Blake Lewis will be DJing at its Northgate branch.

Easy Street Records promises "big to-dos," including giveaways and live performances at both its West Seattle and Queen Anne locations.

Additionally, many stores that aren't hosting live shows are having sales. Jive Time in Fremont will be offering 25 percent off all records and CDs from Friday to Sunday. Everyday Music's new store on Capitol Hill will also have a sale (and possibly some people DJing).

And all participating stores will get some share of limited-edition vinyl being released exclusively for Record Store Day from bands including Devo, Joy Division, Gorillaz, Wilco, the Flaming Lips, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, Beach House, the Thermals, Charlotte Gainsbourg, John Lennon, R.E.M., Bon Iver, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Passion Pit, and more. A list of participating stores—including Wall of Sound, Zion's Gate, Platinum Records, Georgetown Records, and others—as well as more information about events can be found at www.recordstoreday.com.

Record Store Day isn't going to undo the internet (thank God) or save any crumbling chain-store empires, but if you're in the still-kicking market for collectible vinyl, it's a fine excuse to show some love to your local record shop (and a good reminder to keep it up the rest of the year). Meanwhile, there's a leak of the new LCD Soundsystem to download.