BIOGRAPHY:

Barry Haugen has spent the last 40 years as a tireless promoter of Canadian country music. His efforts at RCA Records and BMG (now Sony) provided influential assistance to the careers of legends such as , The Family Brown, Tommy Hunter, Dick Damron, The Mercey Brothers, Ronnie Prophet, The Good Brothers and many more.

Barry Haugen was the first national "Country Music" promotion manager for a major record company. Eventually Artist and Repertoire duties were added to his responsibilities making him RCA Canada's point man to discover talent, sign them, arrange for production of their albums and then market those albums both domestically and internationally.

A founding member of The Academy of Country Music Entertainment (now CCMA), Barry served on the Board of Directors for two terms and was co-chair (with Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson) of the Awards & Balloting Committee.  He co-produced the first CCMA Awards Show in Halifax, was twice named Record Company Person of The Year and has won numerous "Promotion Person" Awards from Trade/Consumer Magazines.

He began his country music life as a DJ at CFCW in Camrose, Alberta where he learned from Hall of Fame members Bev Munro and Curley Gurlock. He helped produce and record Dick Damron's "Canadian Centennial" album and was involved with Carroll Bakers LP on RCA which saw her become the first Canadian country artist to be certified Platinum and co-A&R'd one of the largest selling Albums in Canada, "Charley's Best".

Since retiring from BMG, Barry has been involved with a management and booking company based in Saint John, NB as well as doing private consulting. He has built close personal friendships with international stars like Charley Pride, Dolly Parton the late Waylon Jennings and Hank Snow. It's his abiding belief that Canada's country stars are world-class that has endeared him to industry people everywhere.