The day the music died indeed

50 years ago, a plane went down. There's nothing I can say about it that hasn't been said by a lot of people more educated than me, but I will add that I'm really glad Waylon didn't get on that plane.

That's not what this is about. My favorite record store on the planet, Ella Guru, is closing its doors at the end of the month. I've been shopping at Don's store for almost 10 years, at three different locations. The place was always packed with great music, and I usually left with whatever I came in for and a couple of things I didn't know existed until I went in.

What did this place mean to me? I'll put it this way: on 9/11, when my office closed down early, I didn't feel like going home to an empty apartment, so I went record shopping. I stopped by Ella Guru and picked up Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft" and John Hiatt's "The Tiki Bar is Open." I hung out for a bit, then went on my way and tried to make some sense of the day, while hearing "Mississippi" for the very first time. It gave me something real to hold on to for a while.

A friend of mine stopped by my place the other day, took a look around and told me "they have music online now, you know" after seeing the stacks and stacks and stacks of albums around here. I know, I know. But it's hard for me to let go of the experience of opening that record you've been waiting so long for. I can still clearly remember hauling ass across town that day in high school to go pick up R.E.M.'s "Monster." (Yeah, I know. Not their best album, but a huge event for my friends and me at the time.) I remember the smell of that cardboard sleeve when I got the case open. I miss that feeling.

If you're local, please stop by Ella Guru while you still can. I'm going to put on the Eccentric Soul compilation I picked up there a few weeks ago and take a look back. Tomorrow, we all look forward. Thanks, Don. I'll see you the next time Alejandro's in town.