Student-run radio station KDVS 90.3 FM and local record store Armadillo Music will be co-hosting this year’s annual Vinyl and Music Fair. The fair will be held at the Davis Senior Center on Oct. 20 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The fair began around a decade ago with twelve record vendors and a small crowd of vinyl enthusiasts. In the past few years the fair has become increasingly popular and will be hosting 50 vendors this year.
Sellers will be traveling from the likes of Reno, Los Angeles and Portland and will be working alongside some of Davis’ local vendors. Along with a vinyl exchange, the event will also offer tables of collector CDs, DVDs, audio devices and concert memorabilia.
Armadillo Music Store Manager Paul Wilbur is one of the main organizers of the event and has a passion for vinyl himself. He believes the fair is great way to find rare merchandise.
“Vendors from all over California come to sell records; everything from cheap records fifty cents apiece to expensive hard to find collectables. There are people selling CDs and turn tables and audio equipment, but the major focus is vinyl,” Wilbur said.
The event attracts people of all ages and all different tastes in music. The offerings range from records dating back as early as the 1960s to albums released this year. The selections span across all genres of music, including rock, jazz, hip-hop, pop, classical and beyond.
Mike Wilson, who has sold concert memorabilia at the fair, has spent a lot of time interacting with customers and has noted the array of unique preferences the event draws in.
“It’s a good place to get like-minded people in the same area. You could go to one hundred record stores and not find what you want, which is why people who love music go here,” Wilson said.
Records were first created in the late 1870s and were originally played in phonograph machines. By the late 1940s Columbia Records released the common LP vinyl record we are familiar with today. Many of the records from this era have since been disposed of or lost in forgotten storage, leaving collectors to search for items at special vinyl fairs like this one.
The event has known to turn up rarities like Janis Joplin, The Doors and Led Zeppelin. The prices for these finds tend to be lower at the Vinyl and Music Fair than from private bidders, and this has been a big reason for spikes in attendance in the past few years.
Marvin Philips, past record store owner and vinyl tradesman, used the fair as a way to find and keep a variety of records in his shop.
“I love going to them because you never know what you’re going to find. You’ll find something you never knew existed,” Philips said. “If you’ve never been to one, it could be a real eye-opening experience.”
Philips expressed the belief that unlike many of its musical counterparts, vinyl records will stand the test of time, especially through events like this.
“The record is always going to be here, it’s never going to go away. Like tape records, I can see the CD being gone in five or 10 years, but the record will still be going,” Philips said.
For more information regarding the Vinyl and Music Fair you can visit kdvs.org/vinyl-and-music-fair or contact Armadillo Music at (530) 758-8058. Early entrance to the fair starts at 8:30 a.m. with a $5 fee and 9 a.m. entrance is free.
AKIRA OLIVIA KUMAMOTO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.
