CHIRP Record Crawl Returns for Third Year

By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 19, 2013 7:00PM

Image from CHIRP Web site

If you've been looking for an excuse to add a few more volumes to your wax collection, then look into CHIRP Radio's third annual Record Crawl coming up later this month. The crawl will stop at five different independently-owned record stores in the city for an intense day of vinyl shopping

The crawl will start at Laurie's Planet of Sound, head to Permanent Records, then off to Reckless Records in Wicker Park, toward saki and, finally, at Logan Hardware.

All of the stores on the crawl have participated in previous crawls.

"There are so many great record stores in Chicago, we probably could have a record crawl for every day of the month," said Jennifer Lizak, CHIRP volunteer.

Lizak said this year the crawl will include transportation as CHIRP Radio volunteers secured a trolley to take shoppers from store to store.

"Before some people had their own cars and others were using public transit and it was kind of a pain to get everybody at the same place at the same time," Lizak said. "One of our volunteers saw a pub crawl with a trolley, so we thought we'd use the same concept."

According to Lizak, CHIRP Radio has forged partnerships with many different record stores in the city, and it was no problem finding willing participants for the crawl.

One loyal partner with CHIRP Radio has been Laurie's Planet of Sound.

Melissa Geils, a Laurie's manager, said the store has run ads with CHIRP and donated albums to the station since its beginning and was more than willing to get involved with the crawl.

"It's a good chance to get new people into the store," she said. "Plus we'll support anything that gets people excited about records."

Geils said handling about 100 people descending on the store at once isn't a big deal.

"We're used to it with things like Record Store Day, but this is a little easier," she said. "It's been like a little party when the crawl stops here. It's a fun atmosphere and it's pretty laid back."

Lizak said part of the fun is having the chance for people to get together and share their finds at the stores with like-minded people.

"It's fun to be around other people who are passionate about music," she said. "There's a community feeling of shopping together and talking about music. There aren't too many opportunities to just talk about music with other people."

The crawl will take place Sunday Oct. 27, but those looking to jump on board the trolley must RSVP as space is limited to about 100 people.

A $5 fee gets you a ride on the trolley, a badge, tote bag and a 10 to 20 percent discount at the participating stores.