LINCOLN SQUARE — There are music lovers out there who've never shopped at a record store.
CHIRP Radio aims to show them what they're missing with its third annual Record Store Crawl, which will hit up five record stores in five hours on Sunday.
"There are so many tools available to people online. Whether it's Spotify, Pandora or iTunes, you tend to be directed to stuff you already like," said Shawn Campbell, CHIRP general manager.
Record stores, by contrast, "introduce people to all different styles and genres," she said.
"You could come across something with a crazy cover.... Or maybe you grew up on Top 40 and discover a whole other world."
In addition to increasing awareness of Chicago's independent record stores — "We feel like they're brothers and sisters in what we do" — Campbell said the crawl also promotes the social aspect of music fandom.
"It's about having central gathering places for music lovers to have human experiences," said Campbell. "It can't just exist online, it needs to exist in real life."t
This year, CHIRP has added trolley service to the crawl, in part to make it easier for people to get from Point A to B, but also in the spirit of creating a more communal experience.
Said Campbell: "If we make an event out of it, maybe more people will get the bug."
Registration for the event is capped at 125 people, with space for 36 available on the trolley. Reservations are required and can be made online. A $5 fee entitles participants to special discounts at each stop on the crawl.
Check-in time is 10:30 a.m., Oct. 27, at Laurie's Planet of Sound, 4639 N. Lincoln Ave. From there, the crawl heads to: Permanent Records, Reckless Record's Wicker Park outpost, Logan Hardware and Saki. The trolley will head back to Laurie's at 4 p.m.
