Rebel Records
  • Matterhorn - The Country Gentlemen (2:18)
  • Man of Constant Sorrow - Ralph Stanley (2:49)
  • Paradise - The Seldom Scene (2:18)
  • Fireball Mail - The Lonesome River Band (2:14)
  • Take Me Back to West Virginia - Larry Sparks (3:14)
  • Julie - Band of Ruhks (3:19)
  • Matterhorn - The Country Gentlemen (2:18)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (02:19) [5.3 MB]
  • Man of Constant Sorrow - Ralph Stanley (2:49)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (02:53) [6.59 MB]
  • Paradise - The Seldom Scene (2:18)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (02:23) [5.46 MB]
  • Fireball Mail - The Lonesome River Band (2:14)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (02:15) [5.13 MB]
  • Take Me Back to West Virginia - Larry Sparks (3:14)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (03:15) [7.43 MB]
  • Julie - Band of Ruhks (3:19)
    Genre: Bluegrass
    MP3 (03:20) [7.64 MB]
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


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
  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    08/06/15
  • Profile Last Updated:
    03/29/24 14:21:10

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