Click to see a career-spanning gallery of Gerry House photos (this image of House: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean).
Gerry House isn’t reluctant, or sad, or burdened.
He’s a little tired, though, of waking at 3:30 a.m. After Wednesday, Dec. 15, he won’t do that anymore. House is ending his 22-year string as host of WSIX-FM’s Gerry House & The House Foundation morning show, closing the door on a radio career that has earned him four Country Music Association awards, seven Academy of Country Music awards and a place as the only country music disc jockey in the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
The four-hour House Foundation is something of an anomaly in contemporary radio. Its leisurely pace and conversational tone contrast with louder, more music-heavy programs, and House admits, “We talk too much for the current paradigm.” The show’s enduring popularity — it has been the top-rated morning show in the market for more than 20 years, and House just notched his fourth CMA for large-market personality of the year — is owed to quick-witted but gently volumed banter with guests and with Foundation members Mike Bohan, Richard Falklen and Katie Bright.
“I’m just goofing around, not doing anything special,” he said. “But some of the notes and letters I’ve gotten since announcing I’m leaving have just flattened me.”
House, 62, began his broadcasting career in 1975, 14 years before the birth of current country sales queen Taylor Swift. Aside from a two-year stint in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, he’s been on Nashville airwaves and seen (and commented on) it all, from the Urban Cowboy craze to the line dance craze to the recent Swift-mania, in addition to surviving three craniotomies (he had a cerebral aneurysm in 2004).
Along the way, he’s penned songs recorded by George Strait, Reba McEntire (“I also do her high parts in the studio,” House joked) and others, written jokes for country awards shows, and won the respect and friendship of an A-list of country music stars, many of whom have been dropping by the WSIX studios of late to bid on-air adieus.
House, who plans to remain active in songwriting, publishing and most other aspects of his career that don’t involve early rising, spoke with The Tennessean about his life in radio.
Are you going for good, or is this one of those Brett Favre-type, goodbye/hello again retirements?
- I did a Favre last year, where I was going to quit and then came back. That allowed me to see that it was really time to move on, and I’m glad I didn’t leave with a “Gee, I wonder if I should have stayed” feeling. This one’s for good.
Does radio now resemble what it was, say, 20 years ago?
- For me, yes. I’ve had the same conversation with listeners for 30 years. They say “Well, why don’t you play some real country music?” “Real” country music has apparently been going out of business since I came to town. We just play what seems to be popular and what people buy. I remember Nancy Jones (wife of Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones) got so upset with me once because I wasn’t playing George’s new record. I said, “Who do I not play, so I can play George?” You just play what you think is popular.
You are one of the few remaining on-air personalities who have the freedom to play songs that aren’t on the station’s playlist, and so you’ve “broken” some unusual songs into the marketplace.
- All I did was play the songs. I didn’t write them or produce them, I punched a button. But, yes, I’m one of the last living creatures that’s able to play what they want. And being in this town, where people in the industry are listening, that can make an impact.
(Rascal Flatts’ hit) “I’m Movin’ On” happened because Rascal Flatts’ manager and I were playing golf and he said, “Play that song and see what happens.” I played it, and it became a phenomenon because it’s an amazing song. Another time, I was writing a song with Brad Paisley and we broke up the writing session and he said, “I wish you’d play this song, ‘Whiskey Lullaby,’ that’s on my album.” That came out of us writing and being friends.
Pick one: Getting a George Strait cut or winning a CMA Award.
- Oh, the George Strait cut. Absolutely. I’m a musician, deep inside of me. I’m a songwriter. There’s nothing like knowing George Strait recorded something you created and that it’s being played. That will never stop being thrilling to me.
Who’s the smartest person you’ve interviewed?
- I think I just had one of the greatest conversations I’ve ever had on radio, and it was with Keith Urban. He’s shockingly intelligent, and well-read. We were talking about Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, and cognitive dissonance and philosophy. I think he’s just brilliant. A lot of the artists are so sharp now. When I started out, they weren’t as well educated.
What do you do in the midst of a radio show when you have a couple of hours left and you’ve run out of material?
- I’ve never done that. I have never arrived at the station less than an hour ahead of time and without 25 jokes written. I’m petrified of not knowing what to do. Plus, I’m surrounded by clever, funny people. That’s my trick. I can always go to them.
Do you worry about filling the void that’ll be there every weekday morning after tomorrow?
- I’m certain I will have some empty days. I keep notes all day long, of what I’m going to talk about the next day, and it’ll be different not to do that. On Wednesday, after the show, I’ll run home, grab my wife and go to New York City to see some plays and have a glass of champagne at the Trump and not think about anything. ...
I’m shocked when people say, “Are you going to be OK?” Yeah, I am. (Songwriter) Gretchen Peters wrote me and said, “People are going to be upset, but we’ll manage somehow without you. Go on and live your life.” And I’ll have a life, too, because I won’t be having to go to bed as soon as Oprah’s show ends in the afternoon.