Country gospel artist gets national recognition

Aug. 1—WEATHERFORD — David House has been musically inclined for 55 years.

The singer, who dabbles in guitar and dobro, recently saw his talent for tunes recognized at the 2022 International Country Gospel Music Association Awards Convention in West Plains, Missouri. There, he was named Male Vocalist of the Year and announced as an inductee into the ICGMA Hall of Fame.

Created with a goal to unite artists to work together both statewide and nationally, the association, established in 1957, is the oldest of all country gospel music organizations.

House describes the organization as a big family.

"When we have those yearly get-togethers, it's more like a big family reunion than anything," he said. "You have people from all over, from Maine to California. [This year] there were about 200 artists there."

The lyrics of your average country music song can typically revolve around the same themes — drinking, breakups and the like. Members of the ICGMA put out what House calls "positive country."

House, who lives in Parker County with his wife Barbara — they celebrated their 58th anniversary earlier this year — had an early introduction to music.

"My mother and her three brothers all played guitar and they'd have family jam sessions," he said. "At that time, I thought, 'Man, this is boring.' After the fact, I regretted not being a bigger part of it."

In the 1980s, House set out on a mission to Nashville to become a rich and famous country music star, even recording some songs that made the national billboard charts. But his priorities soon changed.

"I lost interest in doing that, and decided to go get a job and raise my family and do this music stuff later," he said.

After his retirement about 12 years ago, House returned to his love of music, performing as a solo artist at area churches and other facilities. Last month, he performed for a crowd at Holland Lake Nursing & Rehab, including a special Happy Birthday solo for 104-year-old Mildred Barker. He also has a group he plays with in Granbury.

"I'd say it's a full-time deal now," he said. "Several people in this organization, their full time job is going around to little churches and singing. A lot of them preach.

"God honors what they do, and their ministries are very successful because of it."

To find out more about the ICGMA, visit https://www.icgma.org/