Poss frequently acknowledged that he didn’t have a very conventional career path. “I used to joke that I had the perfect qualifications for being in the music business,” Poss once wrote. “I had no business training; in fact, no formal music background either but I teach Sociology of deviant Behavior.”

After graduating from Duke, he took a position with County Records in Floyd, Virginia. Poss and its owner, Dave Freeman, launched Sugar Hill Records in 1978, embracing what Poss called “contemporary music grounded in traditional music roots.” A self-described “wayward academic in an entrepreneurial role,” Poss assumed full control of the label in 1980, and moved it to Durham. He operated the label from there until its sale to Welk Music Group 20 years later. He became the group’s chairman in 2002. It’s now part of Concord Music, which also owns Rounder Records.

Among the many artists of note who recorded for Sugar Hill Records during Poss’ tenure were Pat Alger, Byron Berline, Ronnie Bowman, Sam Bush, Guy Clark, Mike Cross, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Sara Evans, Cathy Fink, Butch Hancock, Hot Rize, The Infamous Stringdusters, Chris Hillman, Wanda Jackson, Sarah Jarosz, Robert Earl Keen, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lonesome River Band, Lyle Lovett, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien, Dolly Parton, Dirk Powell, The Red Clay Ramblers, Peter Rowan, Ricky Skaggs, Darrell Scott, Marty Stuart, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Townes Van Zandt, Doc Watson, and Jesse Winchester.

“The identity peg for Sugar Hill is having that traditional connection to contemporary music,” Poss Told Blue ridge Outdoors in 2008. “Some have taken to describing a ‘Sugar Hill Sound,” but I am not going to try to define that. To me, it’s what connect Doc Watson to Chris Thile, ricky skaggs to Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt to dolly Parton. They all exhibit a rootedness in their contemporary expressions of music. I like it because the music comes from a place. It’s not prefabricated or manufactured.”

Douglas and Skaggs had been part of a bluegrass group called Boone Creek, whose One Way Track album was Sugar Hill’s first release in 1978. In a May 18 Facebook post, Douglas wrote of Poss: “His dream was to have a label that mirrored the same idea as Sam Phillips and his famous Sun label, which catered to a specific audience and created a new genre, Rockabilly Plus. Barry knew an audience was there for a specific form of music (bluegrass) and there were certain bands who could grow that audience and the music would evolve with the growth of that audience.”

Douglas, who also produced a number of recordings for Sugar Hill Records, noted that he and Poss were “very close friends. Confidants really. He was like my wingman and brother at any event we collided with. We would spend hours talking about the direction of the music and the parameters he wanted his label to maintain no matter the current climate.” Poss was also godfather to Douglas’ daughter Nola. “Barry loved my family, and Jill and I, along with our children, will forever press his memory closer to our hearts.”

In addition to spending many years at the helm of Sugar Hill Records, Poss was a founding board member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky and helped to launch the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

“Barry Poss was not just a champion of roots music and the artists that made it, but he was instrumental in the founding of our organization,” Ken White, IBMA’s executive director, said in a statement. “For that and so much more, we will always be grateful.”

Poss was a recipient of the IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1998. The Americana Music Association also honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 in recognition of Sugar Hill’s pivotal role in both preserving and reinvigorating traditional music, while he was inducted into the Oak Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

Closer to home, Poss also served on the boards of the Carolina Theater, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, MerleFest, the North Carolina, Folklife Institute, and WUNC-FM.

While many artists and others have shared tributes to Poss since his passing, for his part Poss once said: “It’s the artists who make the music to which I’m the most indebted. They had something important to say. They needed to be heard. And I wanted to be part of their creative lives – because it mattered.”

Chris Thile, one of the younger artists whom Rice influenced, expressed his thoughts on social media: “I’m beyond heartbroken to hear about the passing of Tony Rice. No one has had a more profound impact on my musical world. His playing, singing, writing, and arranging broke the bluegrass mold and will eternally attest to the fact that music can take you anywhere, from anywhere.”

Born in Danville, Virginia on June 8, 1951, Rice moved with his family to Los Angeles, California as a very young child. It was there that he first became acquainted with the bluegrass music scene – along with his brothers Larry, Wyatt and Ronnie, with whom he also performed during his career. Initially a mandolin player, Rice turned to the guitar and developed his own flatpicking style that melded elements of acoustic jazz, traditional country and folk with bluegrass.

In addition to playing with J.D. Crowe & The New South in the 1970s, Rice performed with the David Grisman Quintet, the Bluegrass Album Band, Tony Rice Unit (whose 1979 release, Manzanita, is widely considered to be his seminal recorded work), and Rice, Hillman & Pedersen (with brother Larry Rice, ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen). Besides Skaggs, Rice also collaborated with such artists as Norman Blake, Bela Fleck, Jerry Garcia, and Peter Rowan over the years. A Grammy Award-winner for Best Country Instrumental Performance for The New South’s “Fireball” in 1983, Rice was also the recipient of a bevy of awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including its highest honor – induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

It was during the IBMA’s 2013 awards show in Raleigh, North Carolina that Rice last publicly performed on guitar. Arthritis and lateral epiconylitis (tennis elbow) had made playing his Martin D-28 both difficult and painful. Some 20 years earlier, a diagnosis of muscle-tension dysphonia, a vocal chord condition, prompted him to give up singing.

In addition to performing and recording music, Rice made instructional audiotapes beginning in the late 1970s. Happy Traum, who produced and recorded those tapes for his company, Homespun Tapes, hailed Rice as “indisputably, the most gifted and influential acoustic guitarist of our time.” In a post on his Facebook page, Traum, himself a noted guitarist and folksinger, wrote that Rice “was a genius of the flat-pick style, with an unmistakable touch, impeccable taste and incredible tone. In addition, Tony was a fine singer. He was able to bridge the gap between traditional country, bluegrass, folk and acoustic jazz styles with alacrity.”

Tony Rice will surely be missed, but his musical influence will be felt for years to come.

Featuring songs penned by Martin, The Long Awaited Album is the second album that the 72-year old, comedian, actor, clawhammer-style banjoist, and multiple Grammy Award-winner has recorded with the Grammy-winning North Carolina-based bluegrass group. Their first album together, Rare Bird Alert, was recorded in 2010. Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers earned the bluegrass music industry’s top honor in 2011 when they were named Entertainer of the Year during the 22nd Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards.

“Wildflowers” is one of a dozen tracks on Bidin’ My Time, the first studio album in more than a decade by country-rock pioneer Hillman – a founding member of the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Manasas, and the Desert Rose Band. It was produced by the late Tom Petty, who also is featured on the album, along with former members of the Byrds and Desert Rose Band.

The October 2017 FOLKDJ-L charts are based on 13, 841 airplays from 136 different DJs. Label and release date appear in brackets below, while the number of reported spins is shown in parentheses. The top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of October 2017

1: The Long-Awaited Album, Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers [Rounder, 9/17] (103)
2: Bidin’ My Time, Chris Hillman [Rounder, 9/17] (87)
3: Echo In The Valley, Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn [Rounder, new] (74)
4: Turmoil And Tinfoil, Billy Strings [Apostol, 9/17] (73)
5: Fifteen, The Wailin’ Jennys [Red House, 10/17] (69)
5: Letters Never Read, Dori Freeman [Free Dirt, 10/17] (69)
7: Edge Of America, Crowes Pasture [crowespastureduo.com, 9/17] (56)
8: Small Believer, Anna Tivel [Fluff And Gravy, 9/17] (52)
9: Folksinger, Vol. 2, Willie Watson [Acony, 9/17] (49)
10: Happy Little Trees, KC Groves [thebluegrassgirl.com, 9/17] (45)
11: A Hand Full Of Songs, Jim Page [jimpage.net, 10/17] (44)
11: Lead Belly, Baby!, Dan Zanes And Friends [Smithsonian/Folkways, 9/17] (44)
13: Spaghettification, Christine Lavin [christinelavin.com, 8/17] (42)
14: Short Stories, Beppe Gambetta [Borealis, new] (36)
15: The Laughing Apple, Yusuf (Cat Stevens) [Decca, 9/17] (35)
15: Peaceful Easy Feeling, Jack Tempchin [Blue Elan, 8/17] (35)
15: Solid Ground: The Songs Of Fred Alley, Katie Dahl, Eric Lewis And Rich Higdon [Leaky Boat, 8/17] (35)
18: Any Port In A Storm, Mark Stepakoff [markstepakoff.com, new] (34)
18: Grace, Lizz Wright [Concord, 9/17] (34)
18: Night Tree, Night Tree [nighttreemusic.com, 9/17] (34)
18: The Oxygen Girl, Jeni Hankins [Jewel Ridge, 6/17] (34)
22: Headwaters, Misner And Smith [misnerandsmith.com, 10/17] (33)
22: The Quiet Places, Terry Kitchen [Urban Campfire, new] (33)
22: Same As I Ever Have Been, Matt Patershuk [Black Hen, new] (33)
22: Undone, Sean McConnell [Rounder, 9/17] (33)
22: Worth, Emily Mure [emilymure.com, 9/17] (33)
27: Poor David’s Almanack, Dave Rawlings [Acony, 8/17] (32)
28: Eric Gerber Three, Eric Gerber [Scruffy Dog, new] (30)
28: One Go Around, Jeffrey Martin [Fluff And Gravy, new] (30)
30: On That Other Green Shore, John Reischman And The Jaybirds [Corvus, 6/17] (29)
30: The Wild, Kris Delmhorst [Blue Blade, 9/17] (29)
32: California Calling, Laura Cortese And The Dance Cards [Compass, 10/17] (28)
33: Jump In, The Railsplitters [Self, new] (27)
34: Rise, Molly Tuttle [Self, 6/17] (26)
35: At The End Of The Day, Bett Padgett [Self, new] (25)
35: Some Distant Shore, Bill Booth [Wheeling, 3/17] (25)
35: Southern Blood, Gregg Allman [Rounder, 9/17] (25)
38: On To Something Fine, Leah Kaufman [Boojum, 8/17] (23)
39: Folk Hotel, Tom Russell [Frontera, 9/17] (22)
39: Mother Lion, May Erlewine [Earthwork, new] (22)
41: Down Hearted Blues, Eilen Jewell [Signature, 9/17] (21)
41: Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens [Nonesuch, 2/17] (21)
43: Middle Of Nowhere, Folkapotamus [Phatcat, 9/17] (20)
43: Bone On Bone, Bruce Cockburn [True North, 9/17] (20)
43: Crazy If You Let It, Thomm Jutz [Mountain Fever, new] (20)
43: Painting Tomorrow’s Skies Blue, Hank Stone Band [Self, new] (20)
43: Songs From The Dog House, Dennis Dougherty [Thinking Dog, new] (20)
48: Chase The Sun, The Early Mays [Bird On The Wing, 8/17] (19)
48: Wake Up Call, Michael Veitch [Burt Street, new] (19)
48: What If, The Jerry Douglas Band [Rounder, 8/17] (19)
51: The Femme Fatale Of Maine, The Jeremiahs [thejeremiahs.ie, 7/17] (18)
51: Forest Fire, Shawna Caspi [shawnacaspi.com, 9/17] (18)
51: Horizon Lines, Matthew Byrne [matthewbyrne.net, 8/17] (18)
51: The Nashville Sound, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit [Southeastern, 6/17] (18)
51: Play Guitar In 7 Days, Jim Lloyd [Self, 9/17] (18)
51: Run Away, Rebekah Long [LUK, 9/17] (18)
51: Waitin’ For The Sun, Rusty Young [Blue Elan, 9/17] (18)
58: All American Made, Margo Price [Third Man, new] (17)
58: An American Troubadour: The Songs Of Steve Forbert, Various Artists [Blue Rose, 10/17] (17)
58: Come Back Coming On, Young And Rusty [Motherlotus, 8/17] (17)
58: Wildflower Blues, Jolie Holland And Samantha Parton [Cinquefoil, 9/17] (17)
62: Three Black Crows, Hope Dunbar [Self, new] (16)
62: An American In Havana, Susan Werner [Self, 9/17] (16)
62: The Conversation, Pete’s Posse [Epact, 8/17] (16)
62: For You To See The Stars, Radney Foster [Devil’s River, 9/17] (16)
66: Alastair Moock, Alastair Moock [moock.com, 6/17] (15)
66: Ghost On The Car Radio, Slaid Cleaves [Candy House Media, 7/17] (15)
66: Midnight And Dawn, Deer Creek Boys [Mountain Fever, new] (15)
66: Not My Monkey, Fiddle Whamdiddle [Self, 7/17] (15)
66: Portraits In Fiddles, Mike Barnett [Compass, new] (15)
66: Time Captain, Ragged Union [Self, new] (15)

Top Songs of October 2017

1. “Wildflowers” (29)
by Chris Hillman
from Bidin My Time
2. “Wildflowers” (25)
by The Wailin’ Jennys
from Fifteen
3. “Edge Of America” (17)
by Crowes Pasture
from Edge Of America
4. “Caroline” (15)
by Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers
from The Long-Awaited Album
4. “Santa Fe” (15)
by Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers
from The Long-Awaited Album
6. “Bells Of Rhymney” (14)
by Chris Hillman
from Bidin My Time
6. “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (14)
by Jack Tempchin
from Peaceful Easy Feeling
8. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” (13)
by Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn
from Echo In The Valley
8. “Enjoy It While It Lasts” (13)
by Terry Kitchen
from The Quiet Places
10. “Nothing Rhymes With Orange” (12)
by Jim Page
from A Hand Full Of Songs
10. “Pledging Allegiance” (12)
by Michael Veitch
from Wake Up Call
12. “America” (11)
by Misner And Smith
from Headwaters
12. “By My Silence” (11)
by Mara Levine with Gathering Time
from Facets Of Folk (preview)
12. “Catch The Wind” (11)
by Crowes Pasture
from Edge Of America
12. “Gypsy” (11)
by Matt Patershuk
from Same As I Ever Have Been
12. “If I Could Make You My Own” (11)
by Dori Freeman
from Letters Never Read
12. “Midnight Train” (11)
by Dave Rawlings
from Poor David’s Almanack
12. “My Home’s Across The Blue Ridge Mountains” (11)
by Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn
from Echo In The Valley
12. “Poor Man” (11)
by Jeffrey Martin
from One Go Around
12. “Promontory Point” (11)
by Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers
from The Long-Awaited Album
12. “Take Me To Harlan” (11)
by Bela Fleck And Abigail Washburn
from Echo In The Valley
22. “Road To Nowheresville” (10)
by Folkapotamus
from Middle Of Nowhere
22. “Cat Stevens” (10)
by Yusuf
from Mary And The Little Lamb
22. “Alleyway” (10)
by Anna Tivel
from Small Believer
22. “Loves Me Like A Rock” (10)
by The Wailin’ Jennys
from Fifteen
22. “On The Line” (10)
by Billy Strings
from Turmoil And Tinfoil
22. “Rock Island Line” (10)
by Dan Zanes And Friends
from Leadbelly Baby!
22. “Salty Sheep” (10)
by Billy Strings
from Turmoil And Tinfoil

Booking gigs is the primary objective of some musicians and singer-songwriters who attend the conference, while many presenters and folk DJs come primarily to scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, renewing existing relationships, and building community.

Official Showcase artists this year, each of whom will have 25-minute sets on either Friday or Saturday night, were selected by a panel of judges. The showcases, to be held in the hotel’s grand ballroom, will extend from 6:30 to 10 p.m. each evening. Showcasing on Friday night will be Shelby & Tieg, Kerry Patrick Clark, Gypsy Soul, Gary Stockdale, Ke’ale and the DamNatives, Red Moon Road, and Quinn DeVeaux and the Blue Beat Review. Saturday evening’s’ Official Showcase artists include Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, Kiki Ebsen, John Zipperer & Friends, Cosy Sheridan, Houston & Jones, Vance Gilbert, and Tracy Newman & The Reinforcements. These showcases are open to the public for a $10 fee. Advance tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets.

The general public also is invited for $10 to join conference attendees on Thursday night, from 7-9:30 p.m. for a Venues’ Choice Concert that also takes place in the grand ballroom.

Following the Venues’ Choice and Official Showcases, from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., there will be late-night guerilla showcases and jam sessions arranged by conference attendees and held in their hotel rooms.

During the daytime hours, conference-goers can choose from among more than 20 panel discussions and workshops focusing on such topics as assessing your brand, demystifying intellectual property law (and how it relates to musicians), the 21st century musician, social media, tools for the performing songwriter, going international, harmony singing, Hawaiian slack key guitar, and best practices for house concert presenters and performers. There also will be a film screening (“The Wrecking Crew”) on Sunday afternoon, followed by a song circle, that also is open to non-registrants for $15.

Chris Hillman, Ed Pearl and the Ash Grove Music Foundation are Best of the West Honorees

Prior to the official start of the conference on Thursday, two special musical events will take place on Wednesday night, Oct. 9. More than 10 acts who will be heading to the conference the next day will join hosts Brad Colerick and Dana Charnofsky for Brad’s free weekly Wine & Song concert series (www.wineandsong.com) on the enclosed patio of the Firefly Bistro, 1009 El Centro Street, South Pasadena – about 40 miles north of Irvine.. Los Angeles Women in Music (www.lawim.com).also presents a Singer-Songwriter Night featuring artists from FAR-West at M Bar Hollywood at 1253 N. Vine Street, for which admission is $10

FAR-West (www.far-west.org) seeks to create community among musicians, presenters, DJs, support and educational organizations that seek to raise the visibility and expand the influence of folk and acoustic music in the West. As its name implies, FAR-West is part of the larger Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), an association that aims to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development. The 26th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference is slated for February 19-23 in Kansas City, Missouri and will feature Graham Nash as its keynote speaker.

More than $150,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded to 65 winners in more than 20 categories, including Americana and Folk/Singer-Songwriter. The grand prize winner and first place winners in all categories (except for lyrics only and music video) also will have their winning songs included on an ISC compilation CD to be distributed to music industry professionals.

Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, originality, lyrics, melody and composition, without consideration for production value, recording quality or vocal ability. The competition is open to amateur and professional songwriters worldwide The grand prize winner and first place winners in all categories (except for lyrics only and music video) also will have their winning songs included on an ISC compilation CD to be distributed to music industry professionals.

Judges include such notable recording artists as Chris Hillman (best known for his work with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers), Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and Loretta Lynn, as well as executives from such independent labels as Lost Highway, Putumayo World Music and Universal Republic.

Last year’s ISC winners in the Americana category were Kevin Meisel of Bellville, Michigan for “Cruising for Paradise” (first place); Ben Kyle (Romantica) of Belfast, Northern Ireland for “The Dark (second place); and Kim Beggs of Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada for “Lips Stained Red with Wine” (third place). In the Folk category, the 2008 ISC winners were Gordie Sampson of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and Michael Logen of Nashville, Tennessee for “Davey Jones” (first place), Ane Brun of Stockholm, Sweden for “The Treehouse Song” (second place), which also captured second place in music video category; and Mark Erelli and Peter Nelson of Somerville, Massachusetts for “Volunteers (third place).” In addition, singer-songwriters Eric Schwartz of Los Angeles, California and George Wurzbach of Brooklyn, New York (and part of the trio Modern Man) won first and second place in the Comedy/Novelty category for “Clinton Got a Blowjob” and “Moe, respectively.

For entry forms and more information, visit www.songwritingcompetition.com.