By the end of 1900, Dave Macon’s wagon hauling business, Midway Mule and Mitchell Wagon Transportation Company, was in full operation. Uncle Dave Macon, an ambitious entrepreneur, invested in four Mitchell wagons and the mule teams to pull them.  By sunrise every day, Dave harnessed his mules, hitched them to the wagons, checked the load, and reviewed the bills of laden. Transporting freight from Midpoint at Kittrell to Woodbury and then the freight to Murfreesboro became a profitable enterprise. Music and comedy were a part of Dave’s life even in the transport days.  When he departed every morning, he placed his banjo under the driver’s seat.  Dave would sing and play his way to Woodbury and Murfreesboro to pass the time away. While wielding his clawhammer banjo, Dave would gather young and old with his delightful proverbial tales and songs. Uncle Dave’s gregarious performing styles were directed to the farmhands and passersby working in the adjacent fields. Years later when Uncle Dave Macon became the first superstar of the Grand Ole Opry, these rural folk would buy his records, come to his concerts, and gather around the radio on Saturday night to listen to this gifted entertainer with a sound that all rural folk could identify with. 

​

Once again over a hundred twenty + years later, Uncle Dave and his mule story are making a comeback. The 45th Anniversary of Uncle Dave Macon Days is teaming up with the American Mule and Music Association to be held at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Cooper Steel Arena, 721 Whitehorn St. in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Join the excitement September 28 through October 1, 2023.  All proceeds received will go to United Veterans Council of Bedford County.