Arriving the Thursday before the fair, I checked into Austin’s sole Econolodge (which was within walking distance from the event). A cliché about record collectors that is largely true is that we skimp on anything that doesn’t play on a turntable; that I was amongst fellow fanatics was clear from signs posted on some of the motel doors proclaiming “45s Inside.” Pre-show trading was already in swing, though my stomach demanded that my first stop be local eatery Threadgills.
Friday is dealer set-up day. Early admission started at the relatively merciful hour of 10:00AM. With the tables filling the Crockett Events Center still mostly empty, it made the feeding frenzy all the more intense when crates of records got wheeled in. I’ve done too many of these things to dive in unless I know it’s someone with amazing stuff (at this point, I’m more of a browser than a digger). I’m not certain, but I think the biggest crowds gathered around a couple tables of funky 12-inches and a Louisiana singles dealer specializing in early rock and R&B. Portable record players separated the men from the boys. Nowadays great finds are very rare, but if there are any bargains, they get snapped up quickly. I have it on good authority that a mint Knights Bridge Quintet 7” priced at $10 sold almost instantly that day (it’s worth 40-50 times that).
Of course this is an ideal place to find local Texas records, but all different types of merchandise covering all different types of music are for sale at the Austin Record Convention. Whether you’re a fan of Elvis, The Rolling Stones, or count yourself a member of the KISS Army, there was music and memorabilia from your heroes here somewhere. From cheap CDs and DVDs to big-ticket established rarities like The Beatles’ “Yesterday” And Today butcher cover (of which there were at least half a dozen examples in attendance) there was something for every price range.
Finding that something, though, was the issue. In truth, if you have specific wants, odds are you won’t be able to cross many off the list unless they’re fairly common (the same could be said of just about every record show nowadays; if there ever was an elephant’s graveyard of rare records, it was exhumed decades ago). To help with the “findable” merchandise, there are record search announcements three times a day. But even if that one sought-after disc eludes you, it’s a sure bet that you’ll make at least one serendipitous find if your musical interests are sufficiently broad (mine: Curt Newbury’s Half A Month Of May Days on Verve Forecast).
The best way to ensure that you walk away with a new prize possession is to pre-arrange a deal with a fellow collector. One of the few rare psych guys there this year, Stephan Colloredo, acquired a Maitreya Kali double album that way, a set I’d been seeking for years. I’d dealt with Stephan before but never met him, and managed to identify him based on the contents of the locked record box he was carrying around. Bear in mind that the folks set up behind the tables are not the only ones with discs to sell; don’t be shy about asking someone who looks like they share similar tastes if they brought anything to trade.
Hobnobbing with other record guys can go on into the evening. I spent the wee hours of Saturday morning spinning LPs in a hotel room with Rich from Rockadelic Records and Will from www.showandtellmusic.com (a must-visit site for any vinyl junkie). These listening parties had been devoted to psych, prog, and hard rock when last I’d traveled to Austin; this time “real people” albums by the likes of Luie Luie (originator of “The Touchy”) and Gleneil dominated the playlist. There’s plenty of live music around most nights as well (this is a college town, after all), and the wee hours of Sunday morning were spent at Stubbs watching a reunion performance by obscure ‘60s band Gonn (whose leader was, conveniently enough, a record dealer at the convention). And musicians aren’t the only things that come out at night in Austin; the Congress Avenue bridge is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony.
If you’ve had your eye on something the whole weekend, don’t wait too long on Sunday to make a move; many dealers start packing up shortly after lunch. Once I’d made as thorough an inventory as I could of cool items still outstanding, I headed over to Tampa dealer Ken Benedict and asked for his rare 45s (many dealers have a box of their priciest items stashed behind the table). I walked away a few hundred dollars poorer but with three top-notch Florida garage singles in my hand; it was my best score at the show. Tellingly, it was not my best buy of the weekend -- that would be the Laghonia album I won on eBay that morning at the Econolodge. The Internet has certainly transformed the way records are bought and sold, but as a visit to the Austin meet confirms, there’s more to this hobby than mere commerce.
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