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Fair Jam! is an event that invites people out to the Franklin-Southampton County Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 31, for a concert that will raise money to allow for improvements to the grounds.

The gates will open at 25374 New Market Road in Courtland at 11 a.m., and seven prominent musical acts in the area will perform from noon-10 p.m. 

In performing order, those acts include C.A. Sayre, Sounds of Time, Silver Street, Backstage Jammin, 58 East, Band-It and Chase Payne.

Food and beverages will be for sale at the event.

Admission to Fair Jam! will be granted with a per-person donation, including a reduced rate for children ages 12 and younger.

On Aug. 4, 2024, what the National Weather Service (NWS) reported preliminarily as a “thunderstorm wind event” left a wake of destruction in its path at the Franklin-Southampton County Fairgrounds. Fair officials and the NWS confirmed that no one was injured during the event, but it left some outbuildings and the food court area at the fairgrounds in ruins, also ripping open the back of the largest building on the property.

The Franklin-Southampton County Fair, which was set to start three days later, was canceled.

Since then, support from the community has poured in to help with the fairgrounds’ recovery, putting them in position to host the fair once again this August.

Fair Jam! will provide further aid to improve the grounds.

The Franklin-Southampton County Fair Board is sponsoring Fair Jam!, and Board Vice President Cecil Edwards is co-chairing it with Barbette Porter.

“We have talked about and knocked around that we’re going to try to earmark the money (raised by Fair Jam!) to replace the existing wooden stage that we use from time to time inside the (big) building with an updated stage that is easier to handle, easier to put in and out of the place; it’s like a portable stage,” Edwards said. “It also could be used for various events even on the grounds. We could put it out somewhere and have a satellite area for some type of entertainment.”

Edwards said he and Porter have had the brainchild that is Fair Jam! for a while now.

“Once the situation happened with the storm last year, we had a bunch of musicians reach out to us and say, ‘What can we do to help out?’ And that’s how this whole thing got formulated,” he said. “We tried to figure out a good date that would work out for everybody, and after we got some other stuff taken care of at the fairgrounds where we could actually have something, (May 31) is the date that worked out for everybody, and this is the date we went with, and it’s getting closer.”

Edwards said if the weather is cooperating, Fair Jam! will be outside on the main stage. He noted that he envisions it as being an outdoor concert.

“You come and bring your blanket, your chair, and just sit down and enjoy some of the best regional and local musicians from the area,” he said. “We’ve got seasoned people that’ve been playing for a long time, and then we’ve also got some younger guys that are coming on now. It’s a good variety of music. … It’s a little something for everybody.”

Edwards is the lead singer for Band-It, a music group that he noted has been voted the best in Suffolk for the last eight years, and this year makes nine.

“Chase Payne is a musician from Virginia Beach who has actually got several CDs out now, and he’s trying to make it in the music business,” Edwards said.

Payne has established a name for himself in the area and has played the fairgrounds before.

Edwards noted that Sounds of Time pays tribute to certain country musicians from back in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

“Silver Street is a very well-known band in this area,” Edwards said. “They have been playing for a very, very long time (and feature) some of the top-rated musicians that there are. I had the privilege of performing with them several times myself, and the guys are really great people. They’re good about giving back to the county and the surrounding areas.”

Edwards said C.A. Sayre is a singer-songwriter from Sedley.

“A great guy,” Edwards added. “He plays a good variety of music too, mostly a lot of original stuff, which makes it really cool.”

A trio of young musicians comprise 58 East.

“They’re all around 19, 20 years old, and they have a three-piece band, and they play a lot of classic rock and country music, and they just put on a good show,” Edwards said. “They’ve got a great following around here too.”

“And then of course we’ve got a band from Isle of Wight, which is Backstage Jammin,” Edwards said. “They play some classic rock too and some country music — great musicians.

“It’s just going to be a really good show for everybody, and we’re really hoping that the people in the area come out, because somebody told me the other day, it’s like a kickoff to the summer,” Edwards added.

He acknowledged that “other organizations have other events coming up, but this event is a good thing to give back to the community and give (people) an opportunity just to come out and relax.”