60 years in the music industry

He laughs when anyone comments about him looking much younger than his age. 

"My daddy says it was because I never worked a day in my life, that I spent all my time playing in those clubs," he said. 

His music goes back to the 1st grade at the old Swearengin School. 

"I had a teacher and I would sit in her lap and sing," he said. At age 13, he played his first gig in that same school's auditorium, the first time he was part of a band. 

As a teen, he faced a decision. His father had a sawmill and a farm. He could work there or join the Army. 

"It wasn't much of a decision," Mack said. "I didn't want to work in the sawmill."

He was in the Army from age 17 until he was 20, from 1959 to 1962. He got out just before Vietnam really heated up. 

"Vietnam actually started in 1959 and, if you had enough time, you could go when I was in," he said. "I didn't have enough time. I was just dumb enough, I would have gone if I did."

When he got out, he started his music career. The first place he played regularly was the Northside Social Club in Huntsville. 

Later, he would play the Peppermint Lounge and the Carousel in Huntsville as part of the house band. 

"There were actually three Peppermint Lounges and we played them all," he said. 

Throughout his career, he had brushes with people who would go on to have big careers in music.

"Jeff Cook and I worked together in a band called the Sundowners," Mack said. 

He had a couple of bandmates who later worked for Hank Williams Jr. 

As the house band at the Presidents Club in Bessemer, Mack and company opened for a lot of up-and-comers you might have heard of, George Jones, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle and others.

After working in Huntsville, Mack started working in Birmingham. And he really worked there. He played six nights a week in two different clubs. One was a "regular hours" club and the other an "after hours" club. He was essentially playing a "double" six nights a week.

"I made good money," Mack said of his long career playing as part of a house band. "I bought three houses over the years and a lot of other stuff."

He also played Chattanooga and even Nashville. 

"Nashville and Huntsville were two good places to go if you wanted to starve," he said. The money was about double in Birmingham and Chattanooga compared to what he made in Nashville and Huntsville. 

Mack has had his own band, Mack Rice and The River Bottom Band, since the 1960s. They still play gigs and they will play in Guntersville on October 27 as part of MVAC's Fall Concert Series at Errol Allan Park. 

Actually, Mack and his band have played Guntersville a great deal over the years. 

"We played the American Legion on Sundays for five years," he said. "It was good."

They've played the Friendship Lodge in Scottsboro a good bit in recent years as well. 

It's been awhile since Mack played 6 nights a week. He eventually got it down to 4 nights a week and now he just plays when he wants to. 

They only play paying gigs and it has to be pretty decent because the band members are scattered and "they don't want to come over here for nothing," Mack said. 

Bobby Shepherd of East Limestone is on drums. Alan Adkins of Collinsville plays keyboard and Terry Pike of Chattanooga is on guitar. Mack plays the bass. They all sing. Mack's favorite part is when multiple members harmonize on a particular song. He has a keen ear for what's good and what isn't when it comes to music. And he can be brutally honest in assessing someone's voice. 

"I love it," he said of music. "And I still love it." 

He has what is essentially a recording studio in the basement of his home. He has recorded many of the band's songs. 

"This is an 8-track recorder," Mack said. "It is the same kind of recorder the Beatles recorded their stuff on. I still like analog a lot better than digital."

Since the band members are scattered over a large area, it's hard for them to get together to rehearse. 

"I'd love to rehearse," Mack said. "It's just hard for us to do that."

So they share a CD of any new songs they're adding to their play list and everyone works on it on their own. 

"I can get down here in the basement and fool around with my bass and get my parts ready," Mack said. He plays by ear. 

Even being gone so many nights making music, Mack has managed to maintain a long marriage. He and his wife Jeanette have been married 45 years, raising two daughters and two grandsons. 

He's been a member of the Grant Town Council for 12 years. No one has ever run against him.