David Freeman (May 22, 1939 – December 25, 2023) was an American collector, historian, and authority on old-time and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

. Freeman started the

County Records County Records was a Virginia-based independent American record label founded by David Freeman in 1963. The label specialised in old-time and traditional bluegrass music. History Old-time music collector David Freeman started the County Record ...

label in 1963 in his native New York to focus on Southern string band music, and began the companion mail-order record retail company County Sales in 1965. He moved both businesses to

Floyd, Virginia Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 448 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county w ...

, in 1974. In 1977, Freeman started the Record Depot wholesale distribution company in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

, specializing in bluegrass and old-time music. In 1978 he helped his graphic artist Barry Poss start a bluegrass music record label, Sugar Hill Records, in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. In 1980, Freeman bought

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

-based

Rebel Records Rebel Records is an independent American record label based in Charlottesville, Virginia that specializes in bluegrass and old time music. The label was founded in Mount Rainier, Maryland in 1959 by Dick Freeland, Bill Carroll and Sonny Compto ...

, a pioneering bluegrass label, from Charles Freeland, one of the label's founders. Freeman was inducted into the

International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor For a professional in the bluegrass music field, election to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor the genre can bestow. An invitation can be extended to performers, songwriters, promoters, broadcasters, musicians, a ...

in 2002. on website of the International Bluegrass Music Museum (accessed February 22, 2007). Freeman died on December 25, 2023, at the age of 84.

References

External links

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Bluegrass Today obituary
1939 births 2023 deaths Record producers from Virginia American music historians American male non-fiction writers Record collectors People from Floyd, Virginia Historians from Virginia Folk music historians {{US-music-bio-stub