American country and bluegrass singer and guitarist, music executive, A&R man, record company owner and festival promoter. Born May 23, 1925 in Crimora, Virginia, USA. Died February 24, 2019 in Antioch, Tennessee.
Wiseman made his first recordings playing bass with Molly O'Day for Columbia on December 16, 1946.
In 1947, Wiseman formed a band to play on WCYB in Bristol, on the Tennessee-Virginia border with Tex Isley, Paul Prince and Curley Seckler.
In 1948, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Cedrick Rainwater and Jim Shumate added Wiseman to their band.
In 1949, Wiseman had a radio show at WSB in Atlanta, and toured with comedian-singer Bill Carlisle. Later that year, he went to work for Bill Monroe in Nashville and recorded with him on his last Columbia session in October of that year, where he sang lead on two duets.
After almost a year in Nashville, Wiseman returned to WCYB in Bristol, where he organized another band that moved to the Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport. This led to a recording contract on Dot Records. (His Dot recordings were released in Canada on the Quality label.)
In 1953, Wiseman moved to Richmond, Virginia and became one of the featured performers on the Old Dominion Barn Dance held every Saturday night on WRVA. During the period 1953-1957, his singles were released on an average of one every two months. His bluegrass band, The Country Boys, at times featured banjoists Eddie Adcock, Allen Shelton, Donnie Bryant and Joe Medford, and fiddlers Chubby Collier, Ralph Mayo and Benny Williams. Buck Graves played mandolin and dobro.
In 1957, Wiseman became an A&R man for Dot Records. The label had just been sold to Paramount Pictures, so Wiseman disbanded the Country Boys and moved to Hollywood, where he continued to record and perform.
In 1960, Wiseman was elected Treasurer of the Country Music Association.
In 1962, Wiseman left Dot and signed with Capitol.
In 1966, Wiseman moved to Wheeling, West Virginia and opened a record store and started Wise Records. During the period 1966-1970, he had hits on MGM and RCA Victor.
In 1970, Wiseman moved back to Nashville and recorded for four years on RCA.