Mac Wiseman

Artist Information

1925—2019

In his lifetime, Mac made more than 60 albums filled with folk, country, bluegrass, pop (he recorded Fleetwood Mac’s “Never Going Back Again,” and Gene Austin’s “My Blue Heaven” with big band legend Woody Herman) and rock 'n' roll music. He was a founding member of Flatt & Scruggs' band and a lead vocalist for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. He helped found the Country Music Association. He sang at Carnegie Hall, and made fans of legends Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard. He's a member of both the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“Mac is one of the heroes,” said fellow Country Music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson.  Mac became known as "the voice with a heart," and that heart for music began beating back in Crimora, as he lifted his mother's hand-written words in melody.

In June of 2014, Mac gathered friends including Musicians Hall of Famer Jimmy Capps, Grammy-winning bass player Mark Fain, heralded multi-instrumentalist Justin Moses, heralded harmonica player Jelly Roll Johnson, dulcimer master Alisa Jones-Wall, guitar great Thomm Jutz and 23-year-old, rising acoustic music star Sierra Hull for what Mac counts among the most special recording sessions of his 68-year career. He brought that 89-year-old voice with a heart, and an old, yellowed composition book. 

“Above all, this project is an effort to preserve American music history, pre-bluegrass,” says Jutz, who co-produced the album Mac calls Songs From My Mother’s Hand with Grammy-nominated producer Peter Cooper. “Mac’s authority in delivering these old songs comes from authenticity. He is the proverbial ‘real thing.’”