Barry Poss, founder and longtime operator of Sugar Hill Records, is set to be posthumously inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame as part of their 2026 class.
Based in Durham, NC, Sugar Hill was launched by Barry Poss and Dave Freeman after Poss had worked with Freeman for some time at Rebel and County Records. After learning the ropes, he felt confident in going out on his own, and Freeman supported his move, eventually selling his share of the business back to Barry two years later.
Sugar Hill rose quickly among bluegrass and roots music labels, signing important artists like Ricky Skaggs, Nickel Creek, Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Hot Rize, Jerry Douglas, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, and several others, mostly at the start of their careers. Poss had an impeccable eye for talent and all these artists continued to sing his praises, even after they had moved on to larger record companies as their stars rose.
They also worked with legends like Doc Watson, Dolly Parton, The Osborne Brothers, Tony Rice, and Townes Van Zandt.
Some of the finest acoustic music on the 1980s and ’90s came from Sugar Hill, with multiple Grammy Awards to show for it, and it stayed that way when Poss moved the label to Nashville in 2007.
In 2015 he sold the company to the Concord Music Group, which folded its operation into Rounder Records, which they had acquired five years earlier.
He died in the spring of 2025 after suffering from multiple myeloma.
Barry is widely and fondly remembered as one of the good guys of the music business, and his family will surely be on hand at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville, NC for the induction ceremony in October.
Also being received into the Hall this year are early jazz composer Billy Strayhorn, hip hop artist MC SHA-ROCK, Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliot of Experience Unlimited, and rock band Arrogance.
Tickets for the October 15 induction ceremony are available online.
