Mac Martin
Encyclopedia

Biography

William "Mac Martin" Colleran used to listen to "hillbilly music" on WWVA
WWVA (AM)
WWVA is an AM radio station that broadcasts on a frequency of 1170 kHz with studios in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, and towers formerly located in St. Clairsville, Ohio, before they were destroyed in an August 2010 storm...

 and WSM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...

 Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

 when he was young. Colleran had his first guitar at the age of fifteen. Shortly afterwards, he joined up with Ed Brozi, performing as a duo. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on the island of Okinawa
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...

. In the late 1940s, Colleran formed his first group the "Pike County Boys" consisting of Bill Higgins, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

 and Bill Wagner, bass, who began playing regularly on WHJB in Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...

. Because there were three "Bills" in the group, Colleran changed his name to Mac Martin. In 1953, the "Pike County Boys" left WHJB. In the mid 1950s, Colleran got together with Mike Carson and Billy Bryant and by 1957 the Dixie Travelers was formed. The newly formed group began performing at Walsh's Lounge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 and did so until 1976. Musicians such as Earl Banner, Slim Jones, Frank Batista, and Bob Artis have all been part of the Dixie Travelers. They recorded for Gateway Records and Rural Rhythm Records.
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