Biography

Contact:
Mark Freeman
434-973-5151 x 102
questions@rebelrecords.com

Radio Contact:
Ellen Nagase
434-973-5151 x 101
radio@rebelrecords.com


REBEL RECORDS... A BRIEF HISTORY

Rebel Records is the leading independent record label dedicated to promoting and preserving Traditional Bluegrass music. Known for innovation and excellence since 1960, Rebel has introduced many of the most important artists of the genre, from the Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene to the Steep Canyon Rangers, Blue Highway, Lonesome River Band and IIIrd Tyme Out. In addition to its leading presence in Contemporary Bluegrass, the label has also been a home for legendary traditional artists like Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury and Dave Evans.

The Rebel story began in 1960 when a trio of bluegrass aficionados from the suburbs of Washington, DC, hatched a plan to launch a record label. In short order, Charles R. “Dick” Freeland emerged as the primary force that would shepherd it through the next two decades. Rebel had several successes in the middle 1960s that helped to put it on the map including the release of a 4-LP set entitled The 70 Song Bluegrass Collection and an early album by the Country Gentlemen called Bringing Mary Home. The title song from the album was issued as a single and sold over 50,000 copies.

The 1970s was a boom time for bluegrass. Weekend-long festivals were exploding the market and bringing many new converts to the music. In contrast to the previous decade, Rebel issued nearly one hundred albums from 1970 to 1979. Having developed a keen sense for the marketplace, and being in the right place at the right time, Rebel scooped up three of the top names in bluegrass: Ralph Stanley, the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene. Other performers included gospel groups such as the Marshall and Shuffler families; fiddlers Curly Ray Cline and Buck Ryan; regional favorites such as Roy McMillan, A.L. Wood and the Shenandoah Cut-Ups; and names that would go on to enjoy future headliner status such as Del McCoury, Tony Rice, Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs.

By 1979, despite the success of the label, Dick Freeland was ready to opt out. He found a willing buyer in Roanoke, Virginia-based Dave Freeman, the owner of County Records and the County Sales mail order outlet. Freeman immediately set about upgrading the image of the label with state-of-the-art graphics, quality pressings of the record albums, and adding new talent – such as Larry Sparks, the Lost & Found, Bill Harrell, Dave Evans, the Easter Brothers, the Virginia Squires, Del McCoury, Larry Rice, Rhonda Vincent and the Lonesome River Band – to an already impressive roster.

During the 1990s, in addition to putting out the new albums of its artists, Rebel released three notable boxed sets: 35 Years of the Best in Bluegrass, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, 1971-1973 and The Country Gentlemen, 1962-1971. Another of Rebel’s crowning achievements of the 1990s was the star-studded two-CD set Clinch Mountain Country which paired Ralph Stanley with a host of contemporary country and bluegrass artists. With a line-up of guests that included Bob Dylan, George Jones, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, Vern Gosdin, Jim Lauderdale, Kathy Mattea and a host of others, the collection won IBMA Awards for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year. As of 2020, the label has won a total of 23 IBMA Awards.

Awards and accolades aside, the bread and butter for the label continues to be the ever developing roster of talent that appears on Rebel: Blue Highway, IIIrd Tyme Out, The Traditional Grass, Claire Lynch, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Paul Williams, Steep Canyon Rangers, Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Junior Sisk and, most recently, Band of Ruhks, High Fidelity, Big Country Bluegrass and The Price Sisters are just a few of the acts that have helped solidify the company’s reputation as bluegrass music’s premier record label.

With over fifty years in the business of selling bluegrass and old-time music, Dave Freeman has ceded the day-to-day operations of Rebel to his son Mark, who had been working alongside his father since 1997. No stranger to bluegrass, Mark literally grew up in the offices of Rebel Records and absorbed much of his knowledge of the music business through actual hands-on experience, starting in his young teen years. Today, his acumen guides Rebel Records as it ventures into its second half century as The Best in Bluegrass.


Click on any album title to download music from our (still growing) catalog!

A.L. Wood
Sing A Bluegrass Song

Appalachian Express
Walking The Blues

Auldridge-Bennett-Gaudreau
This Old Town

Band Of Ruhks
Authentic

Barry Scott & Second Wind
In God's Time

Baucom, Bibey, Graham and Haley
Baucom, Bibey, Graham and Haley

Benny & Vallie Cain
Benny & Vallie Cain & The Country Clan

Big Country Bluegrass
Mountains, Mamas and Memories
The Boys In Hats And Ties
Remember Who You Are (Single)

Bill Emerson
Home Of The Red Fox

Bill Grant & Delia Bell
Rollin'

Bluegrass 45
Bluegrass 45
Caravan
In The Morning

Blue Highway
It's A Long, Long Road
Midnight Storm

Boys From Indiana
Good Time Blues

Butch Baldassari
Old Town

Charlie Moore
The Original Rebel Soldier

Charlie Sizemore
The Story Is...

Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Lonely Comes Easy
No One But You

Cliff Waldron
The Best Of
Traveling Light

Cody Kilby
Just Me

Country Gentlemen
25 Years
Award Winning
Calling My Children Home
The Young Fisherwoman

Dave Evans
Bad Moon Shining
Hang Out A Light For Me
The Best Of The Vetco Years

David Davis and The Warrior River Boys
David Davis and The Warrior River Boys

Dehlia Low
Ravens & Crows

Del McCoury
Classic Bluegrass
Del McCoury
Livin' On The Mountain
Take Me To The Mountains

Don Rigsby & Midnight Call
Doctor's Orders: A Tribute to Ralph Stanley
The Voice Of God

Easter Brothers
They're Holding Up The Ladder

Eddie Adcock & Don Reno
Sensational Twin Banjos

Emerson & Waldron
Bluegrass Country
The Best Of

Forbes Family
A Forbes Family Treasury Vol. 1

Front Porch String Band
Hills Of Alabam

Gillis Brothers
Heart and Soul

High Fidelity
Banjo Player's Blues
Hills And Home
Music In My Soul
The Mighty Name of Jesus (Single)

J.D. Crowe
Blackjack
Bluegrass Holiday
The Model Church

James Alan Shelton
Song For Greta

James Price
Fiddlin' The Old Time Way

Jeremy Stephens
Could I Knock on Your Door (Single)
How I Hear It
Scarlet Banjo

Jim Eanes
In His Arms

Jimmy Arnold
Riding With Ol' Mosby
Southern Soul

Jimmy Gaudreau & Moondi Klein
2:10 Train

Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Hymns From The Hills
The Story We Tell

John Duffey
The Rebel Years 1962 - 1977

John Starling & Carolina Star
Slidin' Home

Josh Graves
Josh Graves

Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins
Hall of Fame Bluegrass

Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge

Karl Shiflett and Big Country Show
The Karl Shiflett and Big Country Show

Keith Whitley & Ricky Skaggs
Second Generation

Kenny & Amanda Smith Band
Always Never Enough

Kenny Baker & Josh Graves
The Puritan Sessions

King Wilkie
Broke

Kody Norris Show
All Suited Up
I Call Her Sunshine (Single)
Love Bug (Single)
Mountain City Christmas (Single)
Mountain Rosalie (Single)
Ole Carolina (Single)
Rhinestone Revival

Larry Rice
If You Only Knew: The Best of Larry Rice

Larry Sparks
Christmas In The Hills
Classic Bluegrass
House of Gold (Single)
It's Just Me
John Deere Tractor
Mama's Apron Strings (Single)
Ministry In Song
New Moon Over My Shoulder
Sweetheart (Single)

Lilly Brothers & Don Stover
Early Recordings

Lonesome River Band
Carrying The Tradition
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning

Longview
Lessons In Stone

Lost & Found
Classic Bluegrass

Mac Wiseman
Bluegrass Hits And Heartsongs

Mark Newton
Follow Me Back To The Fold

Marshall Family
The Legendary Marshall Family Vol. 1

McPeak Brothers
Yesteryears: The Best of the McPeak Brothers

Melvin Goins And Friends
I Wouldn't Miss It

Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge
My Daddy's Grass
Songs From The Blue Ridge

Paul Williams & The Victory Trio
The Real Christmas Story
Old Ways & Old Paths

Peter Rowan
Calling You From My Mountain
Carter Stanley's Eyes

Price Sisters
A Heart Never Knows

Ralph Stanley
Clinch Mountain Country Part 1
Clinch Mountain Country Part 2
Clinch Mountain Country Part 3
Clinch Mountain Sweethearts
Cry From The Cross
Lonesome And Blue
Memory Of Your Smile
Mountain Preacher's Child
My All And All
My Life & Legacy
Old Home Place
Old-Time Pickin'
Short Life Of Trouble
Something Old, Something New

Ralph Stanley - Ralph II
Side By Side

Ralph Stanley II
Stanley Blues

Red Allen
Keep On Going
Lonesome And Blue

Reno & Smiley
Songs From Yesterday
Together Again

Rhonda Vincent
Timeless And True Love

Richard Greene
Wolves A' Howlin'

Rock County
Rock County

Ronnie Bowman
Cold Virginia Night

Roy McMillan
High Country

Seldom Scene
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Baptizing
Best Of
Live At The Cellar Door
Old Train
The New Seldom Scene Album

Shawn Lane
All For Today

Stanley Brothers
Long Journey Home
On Radio

Starlett & Big John
Living In The South
Living in the South (Single)
Straight 58 (Single)

Steep Canyon Rangers
Lovin' Pretty Women

IIIrd Tyme Out
IIIrd Tyme Out
Grandpa's Mandolin

Tony Rice
California Autumn
Guitar

Traditional Grass
The Blues Are Still The Blues

Wildwood Valley Boys
When I Get Back To Georgia

Wilma Lee Cooper
A Daisy A Day

REBEL RECORDS COMPILATIONS:
Christmas In The Mountains: Bluegrass Songs For The Season
Dark As A Dungeon: Songs of the Mines
Raised By The Railroad Line
Stelling Banjo Anthology
True Bluegrass Fiddle
True Bluegrass Guitar
True Bluegrass Mandolin
With Body And Soul: A Bluegrass Tribute to Bill Monroe