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Mac Wiseman

Mac Wiseman

Recording Artist · Active 1957–2019 · Crimora, Virginia · Also a musician
Traditional Bluegrass

Mac Wiseman's recorded catalog stretches across seven decades and sits at the crossroads of bluegrass and early country. Known as “The Voice with a Heart,” he released hundreds of sides for Dot, Capitol, RCA, CMH, and other labels, building a songbook that mixed traditional ballads, bluegrass standards, old-time country, and his own originals.

  • Early career as a sideman with Molly O'Day (1946), Flatt & Scruggs's Foggy Mountain Boys (1948–1949), and Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys (1949) before launching his solo career.
  • Signed to Dot Records in 1951 and scored a string of hits including “'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy,” “I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home,” and “The Little White Church” during his Dot years through the early 1960s.
  • Pioneered the use of a bluegrass-style band behind his smooth tenor lead — a template that shaped the sound of commercial bluegrass throughout the 1950s.
  • Moved to Capitol in 1962, RCA in 1969, then recorded extensively for CMH Records (The Mac Wiseman Story, 24 Greatest Hits) and later Rebel and Music Mill.
  • Late-career projects include Mac, Doc & Del (1999) with Doc Watson and Del McCoury; The John Prine Sessions (2007); and the Grammy-nominated I Sang the Song (Life of the Voice with a Heart) (2017), his last studio album at age 92.
  • Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Honor in 1993.
  • Helped found the Country Music Association in 1958 and served on its first board.
  • Received the Grammy Trustees Award in 2019 shortly before his death for his broader contributions to country music.

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