Biography
A prolific and multifaceted tunesmith, singer, and recording artist, James House supplied material to Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, the Mavericks, and Olivia Newton-John; he also wrote the chart-topping “In a Week or Two” for Diamond Rio and received Grammy nominations for Dwight Yoakum’s “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” and Martina McBride’s “Broken Wing.” Born in Sacramento, California, he grew up on his family’s ranch in southern Oregon. Immediately after finishing high school he launched a solo career, soon assembling the House Band—later renamed Prisoner—and securing a contract with Curb/Warner Bros. The ensemble relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, issued a lone single, and then disbanded, yet House remained in the city and became a sought-after session vocalist for motion-picture soundtracks, appearing on Teen Wolf, Fire with Fire, Tin Cup, and Ishtar. Drawn by the rising new-country wave, he relocated to Nashville in 1988 and signed with MCA. The label issued his self-titled debut album the following year, which produced the hit “Don’t Quit Me Now,” while his second full-length effort, Hard Times for an Honest Man, followed in 1990. Signing with Epic Records in 1994, House delivered Days Gone By, whose standout track “This Is Me Missing You” became his biggest single to date. In subsequent years he collaborated with the Beach Boys, Raul Malo, Trisha Yearwood, Steve Holy, and Steve Azar, among others, and in 2012 he and John Brannen issued Heartache Town under the Troubadour Kings name. House launched his own independent imprint, Victor House, in 2013; the next year he released Broken Glass Twisted Steel, featuring fresh studio versions of songs he had originally written for fellow artists, and also unveiled Songwriter’s Serenade, a collection of co-writes with some of the industry’s most prominent figures.
Albums
