Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise (October 2, 1915 – January 6, 1996) was an American
bluegrass fiddler.
Originally starting out playing the banjo and guitar, Wise began playing fiddle at age 12, working locally in the
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...
area.
He joined the Jubilee Hillbillies in 1938, then began playing with
Bill Monroe
William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass".
The genre take ...
's Blue Grass Boys in 1942, including dates at the
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divi ...
.
He worked with Monroe through 1948, then played with
Clyde Moody.
He also played with the
York Brothers
George (February 10, 1910 - July 1974) and Leslie York (August 23, 1917 - February 21, 1984), known professionally as The York Brothers, were an American country music duo, popular from the late 1930s through the 1950s, known for their close har ...
,
Flatt & Scruggs, and
Connie B. Gay.
In 1954, Wise became a member of
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...
's Rainbow Ranch Boys, again appearing at the Grand Ole Opry; he remained with the group until March 1970.
Alongside this he worked as a
session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
with