By Caila Brown
Caila Brown served as general manager of SCADRadio.
The Spring Savannah Record Fair will take place this Saturday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the River Club.
Despite Savannah’s status as a town without an independent record store, no large variety music stores downtown and no place for the community to get together and browse through the stacks, the Savannah Record Fair fills that vacuum twice a year with an eclectic and vast musical collection on sale to the greater community.
Not only will this unique record fair draw dealers from around the Southeast and as far away as the Midwest, but it also will bring in students and Savannah residents to hawk their vinyl wares.
The record fair sold out of available tables on Monday, April 5, and Director of Student Media John Bennett believes that there will be roughly 30 percent more vendors present than the previous record fair held in fall quarter. All proceeds from table rentals benefit the non-commercial operation of SCAD Radio.
The Savannah Record Fair offers selections for everyone— from newcomers to vinyl to the rare copies for the hardcore collectors out there.
Genre lovers of all kinds will be pleased: afro-beat to classic ‘70s, progressive rock to jazz, soundtracks to comedy and artists from the Beatles to Morrison to Star Trek to Steve Martin. Vendors are not only selling vinyl; they will have CDs, cassette and VHS tapes, and DVDs of concert tours and more.
This fourth Savannah Record Fair marks the first time the event moves to a biannual celebration for audiophiles. Formerly an annual event, fair-goers at last year’s third time out asked when the next one would happen before they had even left the event. SCAD Radio decided then that waiting a full year to hold it again was just too long to wait.
One appeal of the Savannah Record Fair is the all-ages music performance that is seldom seen in Savannah. Last year, Megafaun took the stage at Oglethorpe House Ballroom to play to a captivated crowd.
This year the 8 p.m. show at the River Club will be headlined by Nana Grizol, an Athens, Ga., based group. Nana Grizol is made up of songster Theo Hilton, who is accompanied by a brass-and-winds section of Laura Carter and Robbie Cucchiaro, both ex-members of Neutral Milk Hotel.
Madeline Adams plays bass; Matte Cathcart, drums and Patrick Jennings, piano.
Local act General Oglethorpe & the Panhandlers will open for Nana Grizol.
Doors open at 8 p.m. Entry is free with valid SCAD ID and $5 for the general public.