Audiophiles, nostalgists and all-around music lovers of the Poconos rejoice: it's Record Store Day this Saturday, and the hunt is on for limited editions, special re-releases and more.

First conceived of in 2007 and officially launched on April 19, 2008, Record Store Day "is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store— the staff, the customers, and the artists— to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities," RSD's website states.

RSD coordinator Rick Johnson said the idea came to fruition when record store owners and employees noticed that digital music and streaming services were beginning to dominate the audio world. In an effort to increase foot traffic at brick and mortar establishments, they began workshopping new, novel concepts.

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"One of the things they thought about doing was to borrow something from Comic Book Day, where all of the comic book stores would offer special comic books or free comic books, and they're like, 'Well, let's do something like that, and let's try to get people coming into the independent record stores,'" Johnson said.

Johnson describes the concept, which has grown and expanded over 15 years, as "the world's largest one day music event" that features independent record stores from every continent "except Antarctica."

"It all happens on the same day, where thousands of independent record stores sell special releases that are only available on Record Store Day to their customers and to fans," Johnson said. "And it's really neat, because people line up the night before. and a lot of times, it's the whole family. You know, I've been at stores where there's a line down the street across the block."

This year, RSD pulled out all the stops when selecting their ambassador for the big day, bestowing the honor upon pop icon— and former Pennsylvanian— Taylor Swift, who will also issue an RSD exclusive 7" of “the lakes” and “the lakes (original version)” from her album "folklore" this year.

Former ambassadors have included artists like Chuck D., Metallica, Jack White, Run the Jewels and Iggy Pop, but Swift will be the very first global ambassador for RSD.

"The places where we go to browse and explore and discover music new and old have always been sacred to me," Swift said in a statement. "Record stores are so important because they help to perpetuate and foster music-loving as a passion. They create settings for live events. They employ people who adore music thoroughly and purely. Those people and shops have had a rough few years and we need to support these small businesses more now than ever to make sure they can stay alive, stay eccentric, and stay individual."

Main St. Jukebox, located at 606 Main Street in downtown Stroudsburg, will be one of the thousands of independent music stores across the country to offer up special edition vinyl and CD releases, along with all sorts of live events.

While RSD continued through the pandemic, many participants opted out of special in-person events, but this year they are coming back full force.

"We have Lenny Kaye, the guitarist from the Patti Smith Band, he's going to be playing. Then we have some local people, like Brother Bear, he's a local rapper," Tom LeFevre, owner of Main St. Jukebox, said. "And then we have another band called Disposable, they're from New Jersey, and they're going to be playing. Basically, we're just really celebrating the culture of record stores."

LeFevre said Main St. Jukebox will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, with live performances kicking off at 5:30 p.m.

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This year, there are 344 RSD First, RSD Exclusive, and RSD Limited Run/Regional Focus releases set to be issued, and they are catering to just about every genre you can imagine: participating artists include legendary rockers The Grateful Dead, David Bowie and The Doors, metal mavens Gojira, indie rock artist St. Vincent, rap stars Future and Childish Gambino, and so many more.

And make no mistake, RSD is truly catering to all crowds: other record drops include a Peppa Pig's "Peppa's Adventures: The Album," and Rockabye Baby!'s "Lullaby Renditions of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On."

Beyond the wonderful and slightly weirder entries, 2022's releases will also include a special venture between RSD and Vans, "Portraits of Her," featuring all female artists from multiple genres. The limited-edition compilation will benefit We Are Moving The Needle, "a nonprofit organization supporting all women recording industry professionals, audio engineers and producers."

After nearly 30 years of perusing the stacks and listening to a broad array of artists, LeFevre is looking forward to a few choice selections this year.

"There is one from this label called Jazz Dispensary; they always put out a really good one, so I'm excited for that. There's a Grateful Dead title that's really cool, it's a box set. There's a lot, there's so much," LeFevre said with a laugh.Johnson also has his eyes on a few choice titles set to be released on Saturday, including a coveted collection from New York's most legendary punk icons.

"There's there's a really neat Ramones box set, it's this the Sire Years, 1981 to 89. And these albums have been out of print for probably 30 years. It's all the albums that the Ramones did from 1981 to 1989, which is not a period of their career that's very well covered, but there's some good music there," Johnson said, noting that the Rhino box set will include seven albums in numbered slipcase with a bonus sticker sheet.

And while all those highly prized EPs and LPs are a big draw for rabid fans and customers, organizers and store owners are hoping that RSD will lead to more and more people coming out to enjoy music, connect with the community, and support their local independent retailers instead of simply streaming Spotify or iTunes.

"Record stores are an important part of the community. I think music is is just everything, so I hope people can appreciate it," LeFevre said. "And you know, like I said, I've been doing it almost 30 years, so I just hope I can keep it going. And it's a good day to bring awareness to younger people that might not know and people that maybe have never been in a record store."