Gerry House
Encyclopedia
Gerry House is a Country Music Association (CMA) and Academy Of Country Music (ACM) award-winning American radio personality, currently heard on WSIX-FM
in Nashville, Tennessee
on the morning show Gerry House and the House Foundation. House has won the CMA ACM Billboard and Marconi awards for Personality of the Year numerous times.
House is also a songwriter, who has written songs for George Strait
("The Big One"), Reba McEntire
("Little Rock"), LeAnn Rimes
("On the Side of Angels") and Pam Tillis
("The River and the Highway"). He has also had his songs recorded by Brad Paisley
, Randy Travis
, Trace Adkins
, Mark Collie
, Clint Black, Neal McCoy
and The Oak Ridge Boys
, among others.
, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio
, on March 28, 1948, to Lucille and Homer House.
House married Allyson Faulkner in 1970 and has a daughter, Autumn House.
, Ithaca, New York
and Jacksonville, Florida
. He first joined WSIX-AM in 1975. House had also begun to do stand-up comedy
and was writing songs.
In the early 1980s, WSIX-FM, a country music
-formatted FM outlet, appointed House to host a new morning show. Al Voecks
had presented a talk show on the AM station, and he soon became House's newsman. Duncan Stewart joined the cast as House's sports reporter, and Paul Randal began as a traffic reporter and eventually became House's co-presenter.
The House Foundation was split up in 1985 when House left for a WSIX competitor, WSM-AM
. After a short time at WSM, House was hired by KLAC in Los Angeles
.
House left KLAC and came back to WSIX-FM and continued with Gerry House and the House Foundation, with Voecks, Stewart and Randall, all in their original roles. Devon O'Day also joined the show as producer and for a country music news segment called "Twang Talk".
House earned a record deal with MCA Records
and released two country–comedy albums, The Cheater's Telethon in 1990 and Bull in 1992.
House also hosted several nationally syndicated radio shows, including Countryline USA, America's Number Ones and The Saturday Night House Party.
When Paul Randall became very ill, Mike Bohan joined the show in 1995, after 20 years at WSM radio and WSMV television. Randall succumbed to his illness in 1998; Bohan continues with the show, while Richard Falklen now directs the show and hosts the news segment once named "Twang Talk".
In addition House operates a music publishing company, House Notes, which owns the songs he has written. Some of his writing partners over the years have included O'Day, Gary Burr
and Don Schlitz
, who have all had number-one hits with House. In addition, House records the "Maurice" (a character he bought from Los Angeles) segments for his show in the House Notes studio, as well as voices such as "Makk Truck" and "Homer".
House has contributed to Nick Barraclough
's BBC Radio 2
country show, offering 'news from Nashville'. He also hosted Radio 2's coverage of the Country Music Association Awards
with Barraclough in 2004.
On September 3, 2010, House announced the dissolution of the House Foundation and that their December 15, 2010 broadcast would be their last.
House was inducted into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame in the spring of 2011 placing his name next to Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack,Larry King ,Bob Hope , Jack Benny and Ronald Reagan.
House now spends his time between his homes in Nashville, Pegram and Watercolor, Florida.
WSIX-FM
WSIX-FM is an FM radio station broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee on a frequency of 97.9 MHz. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
on the morning show Gerry House and the House Foundation. House has won the CMA ACM Billboard and Marconi awards for Personality of the Year numerous times.
House is also a songwriter, who has written songs for George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
("The Big One"), Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
("Little Rock"), LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
("On the Side of Angels") and Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis
Pamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
("The River and the Highway"). He has also had his songs recorded by Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
, Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
, Trace Adkins
Trace Adkins
Tracy Darrell "Trace" Adkins is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1996 with the album Dreamin' Out Loud, released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since then, Adkins has released seven more studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations...
, Mark Collie
Mark Collie
George Mark Collie is an American country music artist and occasional actor. He has released eight albums, and has charted 16 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His highest peaking singles are "Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin'" at #5, and "Born to Love You" at #6, from 1992 and...
, Clint Black, Neal McCoy
Neal McCoy
Hubert Neal McGaughey, Jr. is an American country music singer of mixed Irish and Filipino descent. Known professionally as Neal McCoy, he has released ten studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio...
and The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
, among others.
Family
Gerry House was born in Independence, KentuckyIndependence, Kentucky
Independence is a suburban city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,982 at the 2000 census and estimated to be 22,105 in 2009. It is one of two county seats of Kenton County...
, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, on March 28, 1948, to Lucille and Homer House.
House married Allyson Faulkner in 1970 and has a daughter, Autumn House.
Career
Before moving to Nashville, House worked in Richmond, KentuckyRichmond, Kentucky
There were 10,795 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. Of all households, 34.7% were made up of individuals and 8.8% had...
, Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
and Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. He first joined WSIX-AM in 1975. House had also begun to do stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
and was writing songs.
In the early 1980s, WSIX-FM, a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
-formatted FM outlet, appointed House to host a new morning show. Al Voecks
Al Voecks
Al Voecks is the newsman for the Gerry House and the House Foundation morning show on WSIX-FM in Nashville, Tennessee.He was born in Waverly, Iowa in 1938 and began his career in Sioux City, Iowa. Voecks came to Nashville in 1963 and worked as a television news anchor, news director and sports and...
had presented a talk show on the AM station, and he soon became House's newsman. Duncan Stewart joined the cast as House's sports reporter, and Paul Randal began as a traffic reporter and eventually became House's co-presenter.
The House Foundation was split up in 1985 when House left for a WSIX competitor, WSM-AM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
. After a short time at WSM, House was hired by KLAC in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
House left KLAC and came back to WSIX-FM and continued with Gerry House and the House Foundation, with Voecks, Stewart and Randall, all in their original roles. Devon O'Day also joined the show as producer and for a country music news segment called "Twang Talk".
House earned a record deal with MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
and released two country–comedy albums, The Cheater's Telethon in 1990 and Bull in 1992.
House also hosted several nationally syndicated radio shows, including Countryline USA, America's Number Ones and The Saturday Night House Party.
When Paul Randall became very ill, Mike Bohan joined the show in 1995, after 20 years at WSM radio and WSMV television. Randall succumbed to his illness in 1998; Bohan continues with the show, while Richard Falklen now directs the show and hosts the news segment once named "Twang Talk".
In addition House operates a music publishing company, House Notes, which owns the songs he has written. Some of his writing partners over the years have included O'Day, Gary Burr
Gary Burr
Gary Burr, born in Meriden, Connecticut, is an American musician and songwriter and producer, mostly known for his stable of hits recorded by country music performers. Burr began his career as a member of the group Pure Prairie League from 1982 to 1985, taking over after Vince Gill departed the group...
and Don Schlitz
Don Schlitz
Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...
, who have all had number-one hits with House. In addition, House records the "Maurice" (a character he bought from Los Angeles) segments for his show in the House Notes studio, as well as voices such as "Makk Truck" and "Homer".
House has contributed to Nick Barraclough
Nick Barraclough
Nick Barraclough is a British radio producer, presenter, musician and writer, who is best known for hosting shows related to specialist American music...
's BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
country show, offering 'news from Nashville'. He also hosted Radio 2's coverage of the Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
with Barraclough in 2004.
Retirement
On August 15, 2003, House was hospitalized after complaining of a severe headache. He was diagnosed with a bleeding artery and underwent surgery to repair it and underwent further surgery to relieve fluid and swelling on his brain. He made a full recovery.On September 3, 2010, House announced the dissolution of the House Foundation and that their December 15, 2010 broadcast would be their last.
House was inducted into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame in the spring of 2011 placing his name next to Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack,Larry King ,Bob Hope , Jack Benny and Ronald Reagan.
House now spends his time between his homes in Nashville, Pegram and Watercolor, Florida.
Notable recordings of House songs
- "The Big One" (George Strait)
- "Little Rock" (Reba McEntire)
- "On the Side of Angels" (LeAnn Rimes)
- "The River and the Highway" (Pam Tillis)
- "Thirteen Mile Goodbye" (Randy Travis)
- "Nothing But Taillights" (Clint Black)
- "Three Words, Two Hearts, One Night" (Mark Collie)