Anderson Fair is one of the oldest folk and acoustic music venues in continuous operation in the United States. Located in the Montrose area of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, it has been called an "incubator" of musical talent for the folk scene, especially during the folk music heyday of the 1960s-1980s. Notable performers who credit Anderson Fair as an important part of their careers include

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American country singer and songwriter from Houston, Texas. Early life and education Keen was born and grew up in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, he was an avid reader who excelled in writing an ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

and many more. Griffith's album '' One Fair Summer Evening'' was recorded at the venue. It has been featured in the documentary, ''For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair'' directed by Bruce Bryant and produced by Bryant and Jim Barham''.''

History

Anderson Fair was founded as a restaurant in 1969 by partners Marvin Anderson and Grey Fair. In the early days, patrons would flock to the Fair for a lunchtime meal such as spaghetti or tacos. The club was housed in the Montrose area of Houston which was, at that time, an enclave for artists, free-thinkers, and war protestors. As a result, it was not long before the Fair became a gathering place for musicians and artists from the community to come together and talk politics. By 1973, the crowd that frequented the barn-like building on Grant Street began to turn the lunch club's main focus towards live music. Gradually, the venue grew into a destination for singer-songwriters who were willing to perform for an attentive, albeit discerning, audience. Anderson Fair puts a premium on music and original lyrics, above all else. Lyle Lovett is quoted as saying, "Nobody ever made money off of Anderson Fair." And club owner Tim Leatherwood has also said, "It's not a business, more like a social club." In the past, Anderson Fair has hosted annual block parties in order to raise funds for repairs to the building and for rent payments. Club operations depend on a volunteer staff paid only in tips, and the majority of proceeds from ticket sales go straight to the performers. The dedicated staff of volunteers oversee sales, the kitchen, the bar, and crowd control, for they have been known to politely ask members of the audience who speak during a musician's set to exit the listening room.

Ownership

In the early 1970s Anderson and Fair had moved on, and for the rest of the decade Anderson Fair was run by a co-operative legally known as The Blue Squirrel Corp. Although the co-op was founded by one man, Pat Pritchett, the club was at one time collectively owned by thirteen individuals and over the years, more than twenty-five people purchased shares in the Fair for as low as $250. Some with a controlling interest in the club included Franci Files Jarrad, Walter Spinks, and Roger Ruffcorn. The owner today is Tim Leatherwood.

Design

Anderson Fair is a brick and wood building constructed in segments between the 1880s and 1930s. In the 1920s, Gen. Victor A. Barracco, a veteran of both World Wars and Anderson Fair's longtime landlord, built most of the three-story barnlike structure as a residence. Originally, founders Anderson and Fair purchased only a narrow room in part of the building, much of which was constructed using salvaged wood from the Brazos Hotel, which had been razed in the 1930s. Throughout the early 1970s, the site had no stage, and no PA. Over the years the club has gradually expanded to occupy the entire building. It now boasts a stage with professional lighting, a distortion-free sound system, and videography equipment for recording every performance.

Notable performers

Steven Fromholz Steven John Fromholz (June 8, 1945 – January 19, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter who was selected as the Poet Laureate of Texas for 2007. Biography Steven Fromholz was born in Temple, Texas, United States, and graduated from high sch ...

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff ...

Vince Bell Vince Bell (born September 16, 1951) is a Texas singer-songwriter who has appeared on the PBS television program ''Austin City Limits'' along with NPR broadcasts such as ''Mountain Stage'', ''World Cafe (radio program), World Cafe'' and ''Morn ...

* Don Sanders *

Townes van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

Slaid Cleaves Richard Slaid Cleaves (born June 9, 1964) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has been performing extensively and recording albums in the Americana genre since the early 1990s. Raised in South Berwick, Maine, he has lived in the Austin, ...

Richard Dobson Richard James Joseph Dobson II (March 19, 1942 – December 16, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter and author. Dobson was part of the outlaw country movement and spent time in the 1970s with Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Mickey White, R ...

* Ramblin' Jack Elliot *

Carolyn Hester Carolyn Sue Hester (born January 28, 1937) is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s American folk music revival. Biography Hester's first album was produced by Norman Petty in 1957. She made her second a ...

Bill Staines William Russell Staines (February 6, 1947 – December 5, 2021) was an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from New Hampshire who wrote and performed songs with a wide array of subjects. Called "the Woody Guthrie of my generation" by s ...

* Eric Taylor * Dave van Ronk *

Adrian Legg Adrian Legg (born 16 May 1948) is an English guitar player who has been called "impossible to categorize". He plays custom guitars that are a hybrid of electric and Acoustic guitar, acoustic, and his Fingerstyle guitar, fingerstyle picking techn ...

References

External links

Anderson Fair website

Anderson Fair in Houston Folk Music Archive (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)

Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)
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