Jerry "Mac" McCoy Whitley

involved in a tragic traffic accident. He was 60 years old.

Mac was born in Washington North Carolina to Jerry McCoy Whitley Sr. and Dorothy Ray

(Clark) Whitley, who both preceded him in death. He graduated from Pinckneyville High School

in Illinois where he excelled at drafting but was too slow and methodical to be successful in a

career according to his favorite teacher. Mac did some work at Rend Lake Community College

before he was bitten by the “audio/sound bug.” He is survived by Melinda Jane Whitley, his wife

of 15 years; and a son, Casey McCoy Whitley, of Chicago IL from a previous marriage. Mac is

also survived by North Carolina cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as his beloved golden

retriever, Bug, who misses her “favorite person” very much.

Mac was a life-long motorcycle enthusiast who began riding at the age of 14. He regularly

practiced safety maneuvers and studied riding, was constantly advocating for rider education to

his friends and family, and even earned a racing license in the past. Mac often dreamt of

becoming a crash investigator in his retirement. Riding brought him great joy everyday as well

as great peace and clarity throughout the difficult times in his life.

Mac was an accomplished audio engineer who specialized in live performances for over 40

years as a house engineer, monitor engineer, and production manager. He had national and

international experience with concerts of all types in all sized venues, live and taped television

and radio, special events, showroom performances, festivals, fairs, conventions and industrial

shows. He loved the many years he spent as a monitor engineer the most as it provided him

very special working relationships with the artists he cared for so much. He had a reputation for

keeping calm under pressure and was often requested by artists when they performed in his

venues. He joked many times that he was there to make the artist feel comfortable more than

he was there to make them sound good, but he took great pride in doing both. He had an

incredible set of ears that many people could not duplicate with software and/or hardware.

Like so many people who came to Nashville, Mac got his foot in the door at Opryland mixing for

a group named Hot Country. He was known for having a great sounding show and few people

knew that no matter how many times he got caught, he kept supplementing his gear at every

opportunity to make it sound great. Mac spent six years working at TNN/CBS/Dick Clark Cable

Television where he was the audio engineer on Prime Time Country, CMA Awards Shows, Fan

Fairs (CMA Festivals) and the Ralph Emory Show. His boss at TNN/CBS, Conrad Jones, along

with the example set by his own father, was a major influence in what Mac aspired to become in

his latest position as Chief Audio Engineer at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville

where he worked for the last 20 years. Mac believed that creating a team of people who

supported each other’s efforts and growth was the most important element of being a good

leader and he was so proud of the team of people he worked with most closely.

At TPAC he worked with all types of resident and touring productions including Broadway, the

Nashville Symphony, Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and the Tennessee Repertory Theater.

Mac worked with so many different kinds of artists and was always eager to solve new problems

with what his colleagues called his “ancient wisdom.” Mac was proud to be one of the first

engineers in Nashville to put an artist in “in-ear monitors” when he was working with Kathy

Mattea and was happy to share his knowledge with people from all over who came to his home

to find out what he was doing. He spent his touring years with Kathy Mattea, Ricky Skaggs,

Spectrum Sound, Earl Thomas Conley, The Girls Next Door, Scanners, and got his first start in

the audio world with Stanco Audio.

Career highlights include live Nashville Symphony Pops Series Concerts at TPAC and NSO

Broadcasts on A&E and GAC, West Side Story Production with the NSO and TN Rep, CMA

Awards Shows, CBS Television Live Broadcasts, Grammy Awards and ACM Awards Shows,

Prime Time Country Live Remotes in Las Vegas, Orlando, & Houston, European Tours with

Kathy Mattea, Alaska and Japan Tours with Ricky Skaggs, Clinton/Gore Inaugural with Kathy

Mattea, CMA 40th Anniversary Show (CBS Television Broadcast), The Tonight Show with Jay

Leno, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Private performance for President Clinton on

the White House Lawn with Kathy Mattea, Earth Day Celebration on the Mall in Washington DC

and a few appearances with artists at the Grand Ole Opry. He was also proud to have worked

multiple times with Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld, Lily Tomlin, Hal Holbrook, Maya Angelou, Gladys

Knight, Minnie Pearl, and Grandpa Jones.

The family suggests as an alternative to flowers, that expressions of sympathy be donated in

Mac’s name to Retrieving Independence, a service dog training organization that Mac and his

wife volunteered to help by having the service-dogs-in-training in their home, both for furloughs

outside of the prison system where they are being trained for service, or for extended training of

a particular dog who needed more help. The address for donations is: Retrieving

Independence, 256 Seaboard Lane, Suite C101, Franklin TN 37076. You can check out this

deserving organization on their own Facebook page.