Welcome Back to County Sales: A Letter from New Owner Dylan Locke!
County Sales began in October, 1965 as a mail order company in New York City. It's founder Dave Freeman, started the business as an offshoot of County Records, a record company dedicated to preserving and celebrating authentic rural music of the South.
In 1974 Dave Freeman moved his family to Floyd County, Virginia and moved the business into the basement of the old Floyd's Theatre, a 150 seat Pix movie theater, on Talley's Alley in downtown Floyd, VA. It is here in Floyd, that Dave really carried out his vision for creating the world's largest catalog of bluegrass and old time recordings.
This location is located right behind the Floyd Country Store, a historic major venue on the Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail and a consistent partner in the celebration and promotion of good old time and bluegrass music. It is the proximity of County Sales and Floyd Country Store which brought Dave and I together to discuss the future of County Sales.
After several years of conversation, and some admitted trepidations, we came to an agreement that County Sales, even in the day and age of streaming services and digital downloads, should not go away. It holds an important place in the hearts of thousands of music lovers and out of pure respect for the music, the musicians, Dave Freeman, Charlie Faurot, Rich Nevins and others that worked tirelessly to produce some of the most important recordings in American music, County Sales should and will continue into the future!
We will continue to provide insights into the latest releases from the bluegrass and old time musicians around the world. We will also dig into the archives and bring foward some of the important recordings of the past. Look for re-releases of vintage classics as well as some rare never heard before recordings from the vault. We will launch the newsletters again and send this important and valuable overview of all of the new and classic recordings from County, Rebel and many other labels right to your home. We will launch a new podcast so you can hear some of these recordings before you purchase them and we will look for new ways to re-energize our catalog so our customers have lots of great and exciting choices.
It is with excitement and gratitude that I launch this next chapter of County Sales. Many thanks to Dave Freeman for believing in me and tapping me to move this forward. Thanks to all the customers who made pilgrimages to County Sales and added to the rich history and stories about our love for this music in Floyd, Virginia, the United States and throughout the world! And thanks to the musicians who have for so long been what makes the world an interesting place to exist. In the day and age of streaming services, just like back in the day when the record labels did not show any interest in old time and bluegrass music, we have to give our vote and show up for the music makers. Show that you love and respect the music makers by showing up to concerts and festivals and by purchasing their recordings. We will be working with all of the labels who are dedicated to old time and bluegrass as well as the musicians themselves.
We hope to launch our County Sales record store (right by the Floyd County Store) in the fall of 2018, please come visit us. Otherwise, we hope our new website, newsletters and podcast will bring the music to you, wherever you are! Happy listening!
Dylan Locke