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Associated With

  • County Records, 1964 – present
  • County Sales (mail-order outlet), 1965 – present
  • Record Depot (wholesale distributorship), 1978 – 2003
  • Sugar Hill Records, 1978 – 1980
  • Rebel Records, 1979 – present

Led the Way

  • A pioneer in reissuing country string band recordings of the 1920s and 1930s and new recordings of tradition-oriented bluegrass and old-time musicians.
  • Created and built distribution channels through which bluegrass and old-time music reached new audiences outside the American South and throughout the world.
  • Set high standards for recording, documenting, and producing artist projects, raising the bar for the entire industry.
  • Mentored others who made notable contributions to the recording field, including Charles Faurot, Richard Nevins, Barry Poss, Chet Rhodes, Gary Reid, and Chris King.
  • Produced hundreds of influential bluegrass releases by artists including Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Kenny Baker, Charlie Waller, Larry Sparks, Red Allen, Rhonda Vincent, Lonesome River Band, IIIrd Tyme Out, Blue Highway, Ronnie Bowman, Lost & Found, the Forbes Family, Claire Lynch, and Del McCoury.
  • IBMA Award of Merit (Distinguished Achievement Award), 1989.
  • Bluegrass Hall of Fame, 2002.

By the Way

  • Holds a degree in Classics from Columbia University.
  • Played mandolin and sang baritone with Southern Express in New York/New Jersey and backed fiddlers on several albums.
  • Has sold and/or produced recordings in every technological format introduced during the fast-changing 20th and early 21st centuries.
  • His personal passion continues to be collecting the 78 and 45 rpm recordings and song and picture books sold by early country artists.
  • Son Mark Freeman has taken on many of the day-to-day operations of County and Rebel Records.

Associated With

  • County Records, 1964 – present
  • County Sales (mail-order outlet), 1965 – present
  • Record Depot (wholesale distributorship), 1978 – 2003
  • Sugar Hill Records, 1978 – 1980
  • Rebel Records, 1979 – present

Led the Way

  • A pioneer in reissuing country string band recordings of the 1920s and 1930s and new recordings of tradition-oriented bluegrass and old-time musicians.
  • Created and built distribution channels through which bluegrass and old-time music reached new audiences outside the American South and throughout the world.
  • Set high standards for recording, documenting, and producing artist projects, raising the bar for the entire industry.
  • Mentored others who made notable contributions to the recording field, including Charles Faurot, Richard Nevins, Barry Poss, Chet Rhodes, Gary Reid, and Chris King.
  • Produced hundreds of influential bluegrass releases by artists including Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Kenny Baker, Charlie Waller, Larry Sparks, Red Allen, Rhonda Vincent, Lonesome River Band, IIIrd Tyme Out, Blue Highway, Ronnie Bowman, Lost & Found, the Forbes Family, Claire Lynch, and Del McCoury.
  • IBMA Award of Merit (Distinguished Achievement Award), 1989.
  • Bluegrass Hall of Fame, 2002.

By the Way

  • Holds a degree in Classics from Columbia University.
  • Played mandolin and sang baritone with Southern Express in New York/New Jersey and backed fiddlers on several albums.
  • Has sold and/or produced recordings in every technological format introduced during the fast-changing 20th and early 21st centuries.
  • His personal passion continues to be collecting the 78 and 45 rpm recordings and song and picture books sold by early country artists.
  • Son Mark Freeman has taken on many of the day-to-day operations of County and Rebel Records.

From the Archives

From the Archives: Original recording of 12 tracks recorded in Mt. Airy, North Carolina by Charles Faurot and produced by David Freeman. Donated by Henry Horrocks.

From the Archives: County Sales Newsletter # 217. Nov./Dec. 1996. Donated by Ron Green.

“When my first re-issues were on the market, most of my sales were to the folk-oriented college age groups, selling primarily through stores in the larger cities… This market has fallen off almost entirely, so that I sell very few LPs in the big cities anymore. Fortunately, this drop-off has been more than made up for by a large number of scattered rural customers throughout the country who have learned of County in one way or another.”
Robert Carlin, “The Small Specialty Record Company in the United States,” John Edwards Memorial Foundation Quarterly, Summer, 1976.
“Freeman was attracted to the music because of its rural nature, and believes very little of that is left in most of the acoustic music coming out today. According to Freeman, this ‘is to be expected, because every aspect of our lives has become so homogenized by TV and the media… I feel that even though the rural edge is gone, there still can be great acoustic music today, based on the music and traditions of yesterday.'”
Scott Perry, “David Freeman and County Sales,” “Don’t Start Me to Talkin’, I’ll Tell Everything I Know” Blog, Floyd, Virginia, April 6, 2008.
“I started with $500 and I never looked back. When I took a leave of absence from the post office, I was fully expecting I’d have to go back. But it just worked out – it just kept expanding and I never had to go back.”
Marshall Wyatt in “Every County Has Its Own Personality,” The Old-Time Herald, Volume 7, Number 2 (1999).
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