Mack Bibb

Class of 2026

Many dreams go unfulfilled, while fact becomes something too unthinkable to even be dreamed of. Mack Bibb wanted to be a band director, wanted to share his love of music with others, and never dreamed where that path might lead. If he had known then that he would be inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame, that fact would have certainly been unthinkable.

Mack Bibb was born in Seymour, Texas on January 11th, 1953. His parents were Flynt and Edith Bibb, and he was the third of four children. His dad farmed and owned a construction company, and his mom loved her life as a full-time mother. The family lived ten miles out in the country west of Seymour and didn’t come to town except for church services three times a week at the Church of Christ.

Mack’s first introduction to music was a cappella singing, and his mother would point out the syllables of the words being sung in the hymnal. This proved to be a wonderful way to learn to read, and Mack could read a newspaper before his fourth birthday. The vocal music was written in shaped notes, and the elementary music teacher in Seymour introduced the classes to solfege, so Mack had an early concept of intervals and keys. Formal band classes started in fifth grade, and Mack was drawn to the tuba because of its low sound. He began to learn to play on an E flat tuba and switched to a BB flat tuba in sixth grade. He rode the bus to and from school, so it was difficult to take a tuba home to practice. Mack would readily say that he practiced very little until the middle of his eighth-grade year when he was given the opportunity to play with the Seymour High School Band at the UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest. The high school tuba section consisted of two seniors and a junior, and Mack feared for his life if he made even one mistake. He began to practice and improve, and his life was forever changed when Barbara Sperberg Lambrecht became the band director in Seymour at the beginning of his sophomore year. She taught the band to expect to be excellent and to not settle for less. Mack came to know that music made him feel inside like nothing else did, and he became determined to be excellent.

Over the next three years Mack studied with Larry Kingsley, went to the Midwestern State University Band Camp and played in W. Francis McBeth’s band, was introduced to James Sudduth, Dean Killion, Gary Garner, and Charles Trayler, and did his best to absorb all the music around him. He was able to study with David Payne, the tuba instructor at Texas Tech University, and was convinced that being a band director was what he wanted to become. In his senior year in high school in 1971, Mack was selected as a member of the All-State Band, was a proud member and soloist with the Seymour High School Band when they performed in Houston as the Class AA State Honor Band and was named Outstanding Tuba Soloist at the Texas State Solo-Ensemble Contest. These experiences served as motivation to continue to pursue the goal of being a music educator.

Mack attended Texas Tech University and dove headfirst into preparation to teach. Dean Killion, Richard Tolley, and Tony Brittin became patterns for him to emulate, and David Payne remained a constant influence musically. Mack’s life was again changed when he was blessed to student teach at Monterey High School in Lubbock and to learn and be influenced by Doyle Gammill and Keith Bearden. It was a tremendous time in his life, and he came to understand that band should be fun! He knew that to work with Keith Bearden would be wonderful and hoped that someday that would happen.

Mack and Janey Whyborn were married in the summer of 1975 (Keith Bearden would say this was another marriage made in the Tech Band) and Mack began graduate school at Tech as the graduate assistant in the Department of Music. It was a whirlwind year of study, teaching, and very little sleep. Mack then became the director of bands at Seymour and was intent on staying to rebuild the program, but the opportunity to work with Keith Bearden at Monterey High School was too much to resist. Mack spent two wonderful years at Monterey and was honored to be a contributor to the tremendous organization that was the Monterey Band.

Due to family concerns, Mack left teaching in 1979 and returned to Seymour to take over the family cattle business. During these years he served on the Seymour School Board, which was a tremendous chance to see public school education from another point of view. He also fed his musical soul by playing in the Imitation Stats, a Statler Brothers tribute band. Mack did the arrangements, played bass guitar, and sang the tenor part, believe it or not! They were honored to perform for many varied events, most notably the Muenster Germanfest and a birthday party for Larry Hagman, one of the stars of the television series “Dallas”, at the Crescent Club in Dallas.

Mack made the decision to return to the band hall in 1996, once again as the director of bands in Seymour. Many things had changed, but the students were still eager to be excellent. Over the next five years, the Seymour band achieved the goals that they had committed to, and the program grew both in size and in musical performance. During this time, Mack came to know and admire Rodney and Marilyn Bennett, who were the directors in Munday, Texas. The Bennetts were tremendous influences on him and did much to broaden his musical knowledge and directing ability. Mack and Janey had been in Seymour for twenty-two years and had planned to live out their lives there. Their lives were again forever changed when the position of director of bands at Coronado High School in Lubbock became open. Mack was interested in the job and knew that an older small school director would be at a disadvantage in the application process. Mack and Janey had believed from the start that their educational lives were a ministry and that God was at the center of everything they did. They gave the decisions over to God and trusted that if He wanted Mack at Coronado every door to that result would be opened.

That was exactly what happened, and Mack was entrusted with the Coronado Band at a critical time in the band’s history. Mack was privileged to stay at Coronado for the next thirteen years and the band was tremendously successful both in membership and results. He was blessed by his associations with colleagues such as Fred Hardin, David Lewis, Josh Shaw, John Gibson, Charley Cross, Abby Crawford, Will Burks, Mike Glaze, Justin Mauldin, Jeff Whitaker, John Carroll, Steven Dojahn, Barry Hurt, Ray Lashaway, and Joe Barrow. Mack was honored to be one of the directors of the All-Lubbock Band as they marched in the 2012 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, and was very proud as the Coronado Band was selected as one of seven high school bands in the nation to appear in the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland. Mack retired from full time public education at the close of the 2013-14 school year.

The phrase “blessed are the available” was appropriate to describe Mack’s opportunities to have been the interim Director of Fine Arts for the Lubbock Independent School District, the interim Director of Bands for Wayland Baptist University, and the interim Director of Bands for Lubbock Christian University. He also spent eleven wonderful years as a consultant for the Sundown Independent School District. Mack has been able to continue to share the gift of music with many other students in other bands and communities. The greatest blessing educators receive is to see who and what their students become, and to be a small part of their successes.

Mack has been incredibly blessed, and he gives all glory to God for everything he is and will ever be. He is very thankful to his wife Janey and his children Brad, Brian, and Brenna, along with his nine grandchildren, for their love and support. Mack is so grateful to the Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame Committee and to the entire membership of Phi Beta Mu for the honor of becoming a member of the Hall of Fame. Some dreams do come true, and fact becomes reality.

Return to Hall of Fame list