Mac Wiseman

His clear and mellow tenor voice brought Mac Wiseman widespread acclaim through his work alongside several landmark bluegrass outfits, among them those led by Molly O'Day, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, and the Osborne Brothers. Traditional repertoire sat comfortably in his hands, drawing steady interest from both bluegrass enthusiasts and folk audiences.

Born in Crimora, Virginia, Wiseman absorbed early influences from religious and folk traditions as well as broadcasts by Montana Slim Carter. He launched his career in 1944 as a radio announcer in Harrisonburg while simultaneously performing as a vocalist with Buddy Starcher. Soon afterward he assembled his own ensemble and sustained regular appearances with additional acts, including Molly O'Day and Flatt & Scruggs, throughout the remainder of the decade. A 1949 session with Bill Monroe yielded the single "Travelin' Down This Lonesome Road." Entering the 1950s, Wiseman resumed leadership of his own group.

Unlike Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs, Wiseman typically performed unaccompanied, relying on minimal harmony, yet his tenor ranked among bluegrass's strongest. His band often deployed twin fiddles on contemporary numbers such as Speedy Krise's "Goin' Like Wildfire" alongside reworked standards including the Carter Family's "Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home" and Mac & Bob's "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered." Numerous regional singles cut with the Country Boys, whose lineup featured pioneering players Eddie Adcock and Scott Stoneman, preceded his first national Top Ten success, a reading of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett." That breakthrough prompted a gradual turn toward pop and country material. Dot Records signed him in 1957, producing several strong sellers such as "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy," after which he moved to Capitol in 1962 to record both country and bluegrass selections. In 1965 he joined Wheeling's WWVA Jamboree and began appearing at bluegrass festivals, where he remained a leading draw for the next thirty years.

Relocating to Nashville in 1969, Wiseman signed with RCA Victor; his sole chart entry for the label was the Top 40 novelty "If I Had Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride." During this period he also completed three well-regarded bluegrass albums with Lester Flatt. From the mid-1970s onward he devoted himself primarily to bluegrass, maintaining a steady festival presence and issuing a succession of independent recordings that extended into the 1990s.

He supplied narration for the 1992 documentary High Lonesome, which traced the history of bluegrass, and received induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame the following year. Activity persisted into the new century with eight Music Hill albums issued between 2001 and 2005, among them 2003's The Lost Album, compiled from 1964 Capitol sessions. A 2007 duets project with John Prine, Standard Songs for Average People, appeared on Prine's Oh Boy Records, followed in 2008 by three self-released sets: Old Likker in a New Jug, Waiting for the Boys to Come Home, and Bluegrass Tradition. Further recordings emerged in the 2010s, including 2014's Songs from My Mother's Hand and the all-star 2017 release I Sang the Song. Mac Wiseman succumbed to liver failure on February 24, 2019, at the age of 93.