Hold the record store obituaries, please. Sure, digital downloads and big-box retailers have taken a bite out of independent music retailers, but many of us still love to get our music from someone we know and trust.

This weekend, there's an even better reason to love your local independent music retailer. April 19 is Record Store Day, a national celebration with special events, sales, performances and limited edition releases available at indie music stores coast to coast (see www.recordstoreday.com for all the details).

Steven Brown (ENLARGE)
Anna Kramer (left) and the Lost Cause will be among the acts April 19 when Criminal Records celebrates Record Store Day.
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RELATED LINKS: • Photos: Record Store Day acts • Map: Map of Atlanta and Decatur independent record stores • Blog: Do you download or buy albums? • Live Music Picks for the weekend • Q and A with musician Nick Lowe • Q and A with musician Avril Lavigne • Check out special concerts/tours • Feel like a fund-raiser?

Atlantans are lucky. We have quite a few remaining indie retailers, including Wuxtry, Decatur CD, Circle Sky, Wax n' Facts and Criminal Records. And if you want to talk about music face-to-face, or keep up with the musical happenings on the local scene, there's no better place in the world.

"Yeah, you get to talk to girls," says Eric Levin, owner of Criminal Records and one of the organizers of Record Store Day. "If you have your earbuds in your head, you're not going to meet anybody. If you only have files on your computer, you're not really participating in culture."

It's not a "downloader" vs. "record buyer" thing, since many music lovers do both.

"I like to go places and talk to people and hear music and look at things," Levin says. "It seems to me there was an unnatural division, a line in the sand, either 'I buy records' or 'I buy iTunes.' And that's not the way it works for most people — at least for people who have a cool store in their city."

Speaking of cool, to celebrate Record Store Day, Criminal will give music lovers a day of live music that includes some of Atlanta's best local talent.

• THE 411: Record Store Day. Free. 1 p.m. April 19. Criminal Records, 466 Moreland Ave. N.E., Little Five Points. 404-215-9511, www.criminal.com, www.recordstoreday.com.

OUTDOOR STAGE

1 p.m. — The Bridges

2 p.m. — Ocha La Rocha

3 p.m. — Bobby and the Soft Spots

4 p.m. — Suitcases

5 p.m. — Judi Chicago

6 p.m. — The Coathangers

7 p.m. — Anna Kramer and the Lost Cause

8 p.m. — Noot d'Noot

INDOOR STAGE

2:30 p.m. — Single Malt Solution

3:30 p.m. — Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra)

4:30 p.m. — Club Awesome

5:30 p.m. — Dead Confederate

6:30 p.m. — Trances Arc

7:30 p.m. — Hope for Agoldensummer

8:30 p.m. — Janelle Monae