Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame

County Records, a Virginia based independent record label, was founded by David Freeman in 1963. They specialized in old-time and traditional bluegrass music. Their first release was drawn from his personal collection of old-time 78 rpm recordings from the 1920s and 1930s featuring Charlie Poole, the Leake County Revelers, Crockett’s Mountaineers and other similar bands. The label’s first release of new music in 1965 was recorded and produced by Charles Faurot. It featured new recordings of Wade Ward and debuted fiddle and banjo players Fred Cockerham and Kye Creed. They expanded into the bluegrass world later in 1965 with the record Blue Ridge Bluegrass (County 702) featuring Larry Richardson and the Blue Ridge Boys. In 2002, founder Dave Freemen was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.