First Single, “Going Back To Bristol,” reaches #1, Mac Wiseman Featured in Multiple Publications and Special Radio Programming

WILLIS, Virginia—Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce the release of a star-studded concept album celebrating the life and spirit of Country Music Hall of Fame member Mac Wiseman. I Sang The Song (Life Of The Voice With A Heart) is available today. The first single, “Going Back to Bristol,” featuring the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2015 Male Vocalist of the Year Shawn Camp, was released November 2016 and reached #1 on  Bluegrass Today’s Top 20 Songs December 23rd.
 
What began as a casual weekly visit among friends quickly morphed into an unprecedented album project. Over nine weeks, Country and Bluegrass Hall of Famer Mac Wiseman met with Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz, sharing intimate details of his 91 years, and of his journey from Virginia boy to American roots music icon. That journey is the subject of I Sang The Song, the joyful and poignant album that springs from Mac’s storytelling sessions. In liner notes, Cooper writes, “The stories would have been remarkable coming from anyone. But coming from Mac Wiseman, an acknowledged master of American roots music who earned the nickname ‘The Voice with a Heart,’ the stories began to sound like songs. Thomm Jutz and I sat in small chairs that faced the easy chair, situated beneath a photograph of Pleasant Hill Church of the Brethren, Mac’s childhood place of worship. We wrote down the stories, and found them rich with melody and rhyme.”
 
To begin the recording process, producers Cooper and Jutz assembled an all-star band of musicians including mandolinist Sierra Hull and multi-instrumentalist Justin Moses—both also lent vocal talents—and bassist Mark Fain. Further, featured performers were carefully chosen based not only on artistic mastery, but also reverence for the album’s subject, Mac Wiseman. The result is a collection of perfect performances by John Prine, Jim Lauderdale, Shawn Camp, Junior Sisk, Alison Krauss, Andrea Zonn, Ronnie Bowman, Sonya Isaacs Yeary, Becky Isaacs Bowman, Buddy Melton, and Milan Miller, with special vocal appearances by Mac Wiseman. Cooper says, “Everyone who sings on this album understands the greatness of Mac Wiseman and the responsibility inherent in voicing Mac’s story and interpreting Mac’s words. These artists approached the songs with joyful reverence that is palpable to anyone who listens.” 

 
“I love Mac, and it was such a pleasure to be part of this. To sing for him was more than I’d ever have expected to get to do. His voice is tied to my childhood in a way that few things are.” — Alison Krauss
 
“Mac has always been one of my favorites since a child. I remember I used to catch him on the Arthur Smith show before school early mornings on WDBJ out of Roanoke,VA. I think they called it Bluegrass from the Hills.” — Junior Sisk
 
“Only someone like Mac Wiseman could tell stories that already sound like they could be poems or songs. I’m so pleased to have friends like Thomm Jutz and Peter Cooper that recognize the importance of preserving these stories through the power of music. What a joy to be a part of such a special project!” — Sierra Hull
 
“I’ve been a fan of Mac Wiseman’s all of my life. He has always had a natural ability to tell a story in a song, and make you believe it. I know these stories are Mac’s real-life, true stories. I hope our voices are half as believable as his always has been to us.” — Shawn Camp

 

Wiseman, Cooper, and Jutz graced the cover of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s IB Magazine(January), and are the subjects of features in The Tennessean, Billboard Magazine, Bluegrass Today, No Depression, and Bluegrass Situation. Additionally, special programming surrounding the project will air on SiriusXM Bluegrass Junction, WMOT, Steve Martin’s Unreal Bluegrass, and  “Roots Now” on Acme Radio.  
  
Mac Wiseman – I Sang The Song (Life of The Voice With A Heart) is now available to radio via AirPlay Direct or a direct digital download by emailing a request to [email protected]. Consumers may purchase the album via iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. For more information on Mac Wiseman – I Sang The Song (Life of the Voice with a Heart), please visit www.mountainfever.com.
 
Track Listing:
1. “The Guitar”—Sierra Hull & Justin Moses
2. “Somewhere Bound”—Buddy Melton & Milan Miller with Andrea Zonn
3. “The Wheat Crop”—Junior Sisk with Sonya Isaacs Yeary & Becky Isaacs Bowman
4. “Barefoot Till After The Frost”—Jim Lauderdale
5. “Manganese Mine” – Shawn Camp
6. “Three Cows And Two Horses”—Buddy Melton & Milan Miller with Andrea Zonn
7. “Simple Math”—Jim Lauderdale
8. “Crimora Church Of The Brethren”—Junior Sisk & Ronnie Bowman
9.  “Back To Bristol”—Shawn Camp
10. “I Sang The Song”—John Prine
11. “’Tis Sweet To Be Remembered”—Mac Wiseman & Alison Krauss

 
About Mac Wiseman
Famed for a clear, mellow tenor voice that conveys empathy, kindness, and understanding, Mac Wiseman has been recording great American music for seventy years. He is part of bluegrass music’s first generation, having played in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys band and in Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys, and having sung lead on Monroe classics including “Can’t You Hear Me Callin’” and “Travelin’ This Lonesome Road.” In 1951, he launched a marvelous solo career with “’Tis Sweet to be Remembered.” He helmed Dot Records’ country division, he helped form the Country Music Association, and he became, in Kris Kristofferson’s words, “One of the heroes” of American roots music. I Sang The Song is the first album fully comprised of Mac Wiseman’s own words and melodies. Mac Wiseman is a member of the Country Music and Bluegrass Music Halls of Fame.