Uncle Dave Macon (1870-1952)
Rutherford County, Tennessee
David Harrison Macon, was born in the tiny hamlet of Smartt Station in Warren County, and spent his teenage years in Nashville where his parents operated the Broadway Hotel. Among the clientele were vaudeville and other traveling performers, both black and white, whose music and songs influenced the young Macon.
After getting married, Macon moved to a farm east of Murfreesboro and hauled freight with mule teams while continuing to learn old folk songs from members of the community. He sang as he drove and picked his banjo under a handy shade tree when he stopped for a rest. After a trucking company forced him out of business, Macon embarked on a career in music, soon after his fiftieth birthday.
After a couple of years, a talent scout signed Uncle Dave to entertain at vaudeville theaters around the country. Before long, he was sent to New York to record and his fame spread rapidly. In 1925, Macon became one of the first performers on the Grand Ole Opry and, for a while, was its only superstar. By the 1930s he was a regular on the show and played there until a few month before his death. No one aided the transformation of folk music of the nineteenth century into modern country
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1870.
Location. 35° 50.634′ N, 86° 23.792′ W. Marker is in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in Rutherford County. Marker is on 312 S Front Street. Marker is near the Toll Bridge in Cannonsbrough Village. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Murfreesboro TN 37129, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Rio Mill (here, next to this marker); Leeman House (here, next to this marker); One-Room Schoolhouse (here, next to this marker); University House (here, next to this marker); 1900s Telephone Building (here, next to this marker); Loom House (One-Room Log Cabin) (here, next to this marker); Doctor's Office (here, next to this marker); Country Store (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Murfreesboro.
Also see . . . Uncle Dave Macon - Wikipedia. (Submitted on November 18, 2015, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 17, 2015, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 265 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 17, 2015, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
