May 28
More on Mac Wiseman’s NEA Heritage Fellowship Award
Mac Wiseman, who has plowed deep ruts over several decades on the bluegrass circuit, has been named a National Heritage Fellowship Award recipient by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) in Washington, D.C.
The prestigious award, initiated by NEA in 1982, honors American folk artists for “their contributions to our national cultural mosaic,” according to NEA’s Web site.
Since its inception, more than 300 artists have received the Heritage Award.
“As a group, these folk and traditional artists reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their beginnings to become part of our national character. Americans all, they bring age-old customs, crafts and ways of living to the flux of American life…,” according to NEA.
National Heritage Fellowships begin with nominations from ordinary citizens who put forward local folk and traditional artists that they feel are deserving of national recognition and who embody artistic excellence, authenticity, and significance within their tradition.
Each year, a select group of these artists come to Washington to receive their award in a public ceremony and perform in a concert during late September.
Wiseman was born in Crimora, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley. Both of his parents sang old ballads around the house and would play recordings of early country musicians for entertainment. Wiseman began to sing in public at the age of 12, but he was stricken with polio in his youth and that curtailed his performances for a time.
With the help of the National Foundation of Polio, he attended music school in Dayton, Va. Soon he was singing on a local radio station in Harrisonburg, Va., and in 1946 he joined the band of Molly O’Day, who taught him songs, singing style, and a love of the classic country repertoire.
Wiseman became an original member of Lester Flatt’s and Earl Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys, recording his first Mercury session with them in 1948, and in 1949 he joined Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys at the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1951, he began his solo career, gaining fame as having the “voice with a heart,” and recording such classics as “Tis Sweet to Be Remembered,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy,” and “Shackles and Chains.”
Wiseman went to Hollywood in 1957 to head the country music section of Dot Records. Along with other music industry leaders, in 1958 he co-founded the Country Music Association for which he was the first secretary and treasurer.
During the 1960s he often opened for Johnny Cash at folk festivals such as Newport and Mariposa, as well as opening for Cash at venues such as the Hollywood Bowl.
Still known for his soulful high tenor singing, last Mac Wiseman and songwriter John Prine released a well-received duet album entitled “Standard Songs for Average People.”
Wiseman recorded three still unreleased numbers with Johnny Cash in what turned out to be Cash’s final sessions.
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