Eighty-nine year old alumnus Malcolm “Mac” Wiseman ’44 didn’t begin life intending to become a country music legend, yet time, talent and a mother’s passion for writing down song lyrics heard on the radio fueled a lifelong artistic career for this Crimora, Virginia, native.
Wiseman was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in late October 2014. He studied radio broadcasting at Shenandoah College and Shenandoah Conservatory of Music on a scholarship in the early 1940s, when the school was still located in Dayton, Virginia.
“I was born with polio, so I didn’t qualify for any of the military branches,” said Wiseman. “Much of the staff at the Harrisonburg WSVA-AM radio station were sent to war. My professor asked me if I would want to become a full-time broadcaster at WSVA to replace the staff that had left. I took the job.”
Despite his natural broadcasting skills, Wiseman discovered his true passion in the music scene. He grew up with a Sears Roebuck guitar and began writing songs as a child by candlelight. While at Shenandoah, he befriended a trumpet player from New England and a piano player from Virginia. The trio would perform at restaurants near the conservatory.
“I can’t recall their names, but I had fun performing with them, and that is my favorite memory from Shenandoah. There weren’t many men at the college when I attended because of the war. I loved that it was a small college, and the people were very friendly.”
Wiseman is known as a guitar-picking solo artist. He has recorded and performed alongside fellow country legends Molly O’Day and Merle Haggard, pop singer Andy Williams and many more. He is popular for his participation in the bluegrass duo, Flatt and Scruggs, and The Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys.
“Some of my favorite memories of my musical career include having my own band in 1945 out of Frederick, Maryland. I also enjoyed working with John Prine, a country and folk artist; Woody Herman, an American Jazz clarinetist; and Jett Williams, the daughter of Hank Williams Sr.”
Wiseman has recorded more than 800 songs in his career and continues to record and write music. A composition book inspired his most recent album, “Songs from My Mother’s Hand,” where his mother wrote down verses from songs she had heard on the radio. Wiseman’s successful career led to his induction in the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 1993.
Now sixty years since his graduation, Wiseman has not visited the Shenandoah University campus in Winchester, Virginia, but he has played in bluegrass festivals throughout the Shenandoah Valley.
“I learned a lot about myself while being at Shenandoah. I already knew I was aggressive, but I realized I had to be aggressive to fit in and meet people. I enjoyed my courses in the Radio Broadcasting program, and I had a good time.”
— by Mary Katherine Francisco ’16
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