See photos from the event.

SPARTANBURG, SC
The second annual College Fest is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18, at Barnet Park, featuring hip-hop artists Nappy Roots and Southern "high-octane" rock band Sister Hazel. Gates open at 6 p.m.

College Fest 2004 is aimed at college-age students and is presented by College Town of Spartanburg, a consortium of the six colleges in Spartanburg - Converse College, Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic, Spartanburg Methodist College, Spartanburg Community College, the University of South Carolina Upstate and Wofford College - in partnership with the City of Spartanburg. Tickets for students at those colleges are available on the individual campuses.

General public tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. The $20 general admission tickets are available at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium Box Office or other local Ticketmaster locations, through Ticketmaster Charge By Phone at (864) 576-1550 in Spartanburg or (864) 233-2525 in Greenville, or through www.ticketmaster.com or www.crowdpleaser.com.

"While College Fest 2004 is primarily aimed at Spartanburg’s college students, we wanted to make tickets available to the general public because of the level of entertainment coming to Barnet Park this year," says Leon Wiles of the University of South Carolina Upstate, chairman of the College Fest Planning Committee. "Last year’s first College Fest was a tremendous success, and we want to build on that foundation as we move forward in showcasing Spartanburg to our college students and in highlighting the impact on the community those students have."

Nappy Roots - a five-member band featuring Skinny Deville, Ron Clutch, Scales, R. Prophet, B. Stille and Big V - is one of the country’s hottest and top-selling hip-hop groups, garnering Grammy Award nominations and American Music Award nominations. The group recently released its "Wooden Leather" CD, the follow-up to their ground-breaking RIAA platinum-plus Atlantic Records debut "Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz." In 2003, Nappy Roots was invited to perform for American troops in the Persian Gulf as part of the USO’s Project Salute 2003, the first large-scale entertainment tour to the region since Operation Iraqi Freedom. "Wooden Leather" promises to solidify the Kentucky-born group among hip-hop’s A-list line throwers.

Keeping a Southern flavor for College Fest 2004, Sister Hazel, which got its start in the Florida college town of Gainesville 10 years ago, will perform from "Chasing Daylight," their first self-released album since 1996. They describe the new venture as "somewhere between Cracker Barrel and sushi: comforting, artful, yet raw." Sister Hazel has remained strong by playing "honest, heartfelt original music," and band members pride themselves on being "accessible and down-to-earth, devoting time to events and organizations they have personally believed strongly in and developed, including Lyrics for Life, which sponsors charitable events to raise money for and awareness of cancer research." Sister Hazel includes lead singer/acoustic guitarist Ken Block, bassist Jett Beres, rhythm guitarist Andrew Copeland, lead guitarist Ryan Newell and drummer Mark Trojanowski.

College Town of Spartanburg is a collaboration of the six colleges, initiated by Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet, aimed at collaborative social and academic programs to showcase the institutions of higher education in the community.

College Fest 2004 is the second back-to-school concert hosted by College Town. This year’s event is sponsored by BellSouth/Cingular, Advance America, QS/1 Data Systems, Budweiser, JM Smith Corp., Coca-Cola of Spartanburg, Trehel Corp., First National Bank of Spartanburg, CCB, RSN Promotionals and The Link.

College Town Contact:

Wofford College
(864) 597-4180

8/27/2004