Bev Paul obit

Bev Paul, Exec Who Helped Turn Sugar Hill Records Into an Iconic Roots Music Brand, Dies at 76

 

She was not on the list.

Bev Paul, who oversaw the Sugar Hill Records label as general manager as it became a staple of the modern roots music movement, died April 19 in Durham, North Carolina after a battle with lung cancer. She was 76.

Paul served as Sugar Hill’s GM through the 1990s and, after a brief stint in management, again in the 2000s. The label won more than a dozen Grammys in the bluegrass, country and folk fields, including honors for artists like Nickel Creek, Dolly Parton, Jerry Douglas and Tim O’Brien that recorded for the company under her watch. Other key artists she championed at the imprint included Sam Bush, Robert Earl Keen and Scott Miller.

Paul sat on the board of the International Bluegrass Association for multiple terms and was among the group of professionals that joined forces to found the Americana Music Association. In 2020, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored her for her contributions to the industry by selecting her as the subject of the annual Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum.

A number of artists and execs spoke with Variety about Paul’s impact on their careers, the label or the roots world.

“Bev was my mentor,” says Traci Thomas, longtime manager for Jason Isbell. “She gave me a chance as a young publicist and changed my life. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for her. There’s also a whole group of industry folks that we like to refer to as the Sugar Hill gang that would probably tell you the same thing. She gave us all a chance and believed in us before we believed in ourselves.”

Holly Lowman, of Red Light Management, also credits Paul with instilling key principles in her as she began her career. “Bev Paul taught us how to listen, before anything else — image, a marketing plan, commercial appeal,” Lowman says. “If the music was great, if it was necessary, if it spoke to you, then we had a story to tell. The music always came first for Bev. Many of us from Sugar Hill are still making our way in the music business with this ethos as our North Star, and I hope we’ve made her proud.”

Says Tim O’Brien, who hired Paul as his manager between her stints at the label, “Bev was a benign presence at Sugar Hill Records. Her knack for coaxing possibilities out of the woodwork was her secret weapon. She wanted to make stuff happen and she just wanted to be around music. Bev was smart enough and generous enough to sort of make both the artists and the label happy. And she could let you know what the odds were, what you were up against in the record business, and then — yeah — also kind of help you beat some of those odds.”

Sam Bush, the mandolinist and progressive bluegrass pioneer whose recordings with Sugar Hill stretched from the mid-’80s to the mid-2000s, addressed Paul directly in a statement of affection. “Bev, you were a captain in shaping the marketing direction for New Grass Revival and later my Sugar Hill solo records, with your passion for the music and attention to detail,” Bush says. “We couldn’t ask for a more understanding professional advocate and, above all, a better friend. You’ll be forever in our heart and always in our memories.”

Barry Poss, the founder and owner of Sugar Hill, conveys a distinct memory of his first meeting in 1991 with the woman who would become one of his key hires. “When Bev Paul interviewed for the marketing director position at Sugar Hill Records, I said hello, and she promptly proceeded to lay out in explicit detail why I needed to hire her,” Poss recalls. “I didn’t ask a single question and, as with many things about Bev, it was a no-fuss, no-muss display and right on target. She learned the business, worked her way up to general manager, and we all flourished together, in no small measure due to the reasons she laid out in the original interview.”

Molly Nagel Driessen, now with the Nashville management and marketing company MMgt, spent 12 years moving up through the ranks at Sugar Hill, starting in the mailroom and ending as manager of the label’s Nashville office and staff. She says, “I was one of many young ‘uns that Bev Paul tucked under her mighty wing. She was a veritable force who brought a deep love for music and a dedication to artists to work every day, and centered them in every decision. At the time I didn’t know what a feat that was. She was also fiercely loyal to her people, fostering and identifying young talents on her team and raising them up. I was incredibly fortunate to have her as a mentor and protector, to make mistakes under her measured gaze, and to look up and see this powerful woman cracking ceilings above me.

“Her legacy really can’t be overstated in our little corner of the industry, and I see it and am thankful for it every day. She was really a titan,” Nagel Driessen adds. “I hope she’s up there smoking one with Guy Clark, looking down at the mess and having a laugh.”