Barry Lyle Poss

1945 - 2025

Barry Lyle Poss

September 7, 1945 - May 13, 2025

Durham, North Carolina - Barry Lyle Poss, 79 years old, founder of Sugar Hill Records. Born in Brantford, Ontario Canada. September 7, 1945 - May 13, 2025. Barry passed away after battling cancer.

Barry was the beloved partner of Michele Pas and through their over 20 years together, became family with her sons, Aaron and Jonathan, and daughter-in laws, Elise and Laura, and grandfather to Lillian, Eric, Sadie, and Avi. He is deeply mourned by them, his niece Lauren Poss, and many cousins, friends, and colleagues. He was preceded in death by his brothers Allan and Harvey Poss.

Barry and his two brothers were born in the rural town of Brantford, Ontario. The family moved to Toronto in the mid-1950s with parents Joe and Lily Poss. Barry attended York University in Toronto. After graduating, while his two brothers remained in Canada, Barry came to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1968 as a James B. Duke Graduate Fellow to study Sociology and remained in NC.

Once in North Carolina, he came under the spell of southern old-time music, first learning drop thumb banjo from a host of traditional old-time musicians, including Tommy Thompson, Fred Cockerman, and Tommy Jarrell. There was probably no better first tune or apprenticeship for music producing than to sit at the feet of the brilliant traditional musicians Barry visited, musicians for whom music and daily life were tightly intertwined, where tunes and songs lived as a product of place, time, and experience. Barry Poss was a musician long before he was a record producer and entrepreneur.

Poss wrote, "I used to joke that I had the perfect qualifications for being in the music business. I had no business training; in fact, no formal music background either but I teach Sociology of Deviant Behavior."

He attended the Union Grove Fiddler's gathering for the first time when he was still a graduate student at Duke. The image of an older artist performing with a young boy on stage became fixed in his memory. This blending of the old and the new, the past and the future, the roots and the ever-growing branches, stuck with him for ever more. Old songs sung new again, young artists and listeners who grew up with the old sounds, the endless possibilities of discovering new musical influences. All of this coalesced in Barry Poss's grand idea that ultimately became the legendary and highly successful Sugar Hill Records.

"I'm drawn to artists who, when they come off stage, are the same people they were on stage," Barry once said. A business plan for a very successful record label, one might say: "Keep it real. Know and love what you record and put out into the world."

When he founded Sugar Hill Records in 1978, he said he embraced "contemporary music grounded in traditional music roots." The Barry Poss model for Sugar Hill Records, he liked to say with humility and a slight grin, was Sam Phillips' Sun Records. What he meant by that was that he aspired to create a label that you could depend on. As he said about Sun Records, "Even if you didn't know the artist, you trusted the label."

Self-described as a "wayward academic in an entrepreneurial role," his producing decisions were most often made by how the music made him feel, by intuition, by the authenticity of the artists and the source of the tunes. Nashville music writer and former Country Music Foundation Senior Editor Jay Orr said, "From the outset, he looked for artists who had something to say as well as something to sell." Poss brought with that a rare blend of practical knowledge and business acumen that allowed him to get it just right, to build a catalogue over 25 years that supported artists while expanding audiences. Barry Poss always trusted Sugar Hill artists, careful not to overcook or overproduce their sounds. He relinquished more control than many labels, embraced musicians' vision, sound, creativity, and careers.

The very first Sugar Hill record, the very excellent "One Way Track" from Boone Creek, featured Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Terry Baucom, and Wes Golding. From the outset Sugar Hill was home to the best of bluegrass, including, among others, the Bluegrass Cardinals, the Country Gentlemen, Hot Rize, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Doc Watson, The Whites, Peter Rowan, the Seldom Scene, Marty Stuart, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and Nickel Creek.

Among the many distinctive directions he took at Sugar Hill, Poss began releasing some of the music from some the finest American songwriters, among them, Pat Alger, Tery Allen, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Butch Hancock, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Scott Miller, Tom Paxton, Townes Van Zandt, and Jesse Winchester. Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen said "Barry Poss is one of a kind. There is no other." John Prine was quick to credit Barry Poss with his own music producing: "When Barry sat me down and explained the Sugar Hill story, it sounded so good, I went and started my own label." Lyle Lovett dubbed Barry simply, "Boss Poss," a term of great, endearing respect.

Musicians far and wide give Poss all kinds of credit. "Barry gave me a sense of direction and opened doors for me when all others were shut," Chris Hillman said. "Our first contact was about a record he wanted to make on retired Rockabilly star Jimmy Murphy," recalls long-time friend Jerry Douglas. "Barry told me of his dream to have his own record label and later I and Ricky Skaggs' band "Boone Creek" signed on for the first Sugar Hill Record - 001." Douglas went on to produce many records for Barry, keeping them solidly in the scope of Sugar Hill and Barry's vision. "He offered his artists total artistic control, and we were able to experiment and help his stable of niche musicians in Bluegrass and related off-shoots evolve into what it is today." Among Poss's many awards in recognition of these contributions are the 1998 IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award, a 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association, and induction into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

In addition to his stellar work as a record producer, Poss was an involved citizen in the cultural arts and community life of Durham, NC and beyond. Among his expansive work, he served on the Boards of the Carolina Theater, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Merle Fest, WUNC-FM, Eno Publishers, and the North Carolina Folklife Institute. He also was a founding Board member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, and an integral member of the team that forged the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

Despite the physical distance between Barry and his brothers, they spoke often and he felt close in heart to them both. Recent years were hard for Barry, first losing his "kid brother" and most recently his "big brother," as he still lovingly referred to them.

Barry met Michele in 2002 and went on to share over two decades of love and adventure. Barry was welcoming of and welcomed by Michele's two sons, and later, daughters-in-law, as family. Barry and Michele shared deep curiosity, love of culture and the arts, and the joy of discovering the world. Together, they traveled to visit family in Canada, Israel, and South Africa, and explored the world, journeying to places like India, the Himalayas, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Peru, and the Galápagos Islands.

In 2012, Barry embarked into new territory, once again bringing his humility, as he became "Popsie" to the first of four grandchildren. Ever amazed by all the children brought into his life, he provided them all with good humor, endless shenanigans, and shared that it was having grandchildren that made him see himself in a whole new light. His beaming smile, usually hinting some mischief, and the pride that he had in this family will be deeply missed.

May his memory be a blessing.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Barry's memory to Beth El Synagogue in Durham, NC, Food Bank of Central & Eastern Carolina or to a charity of your choice.