Livingston Resident Back From Grammys; Magical

Livingston Songwriter and Singer Mark Houser back from the Grammys as a first-time nominee.

Houser nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album for his assistance in writing five songs in the album “The Gospel According to Mark”. Houser said most of the Grammys are awarded during the day and that his category was not announced during the televised show. Houser said this was not his first time at the Grammys as he has been a voting member for the past five years. The experience, still magical, Houser said.

“When we went in there at night I mean you just a little bit in awe of the whole thing,” Houser said. “You know you just look around and see people you see on TV all the time and they are all around you.”

Houser said he wished he could have talked to Country Artists Lainey Wilson and Zach Top so he could propose some songs to them. Houser said he saw John Legend and that he enjoyed getting to experience the Grammys as a nominee.

“I mentioned John Legend earlier he was sitting like two rows in front of us and he turned around and looked, I said that’s John Legend right there,” Houser said. “I mean we were eight feet away from him. Things like that it’s exciting no doubt about it especially for a small-town kid from Tennessee.”

Houser said even though he did not win the Grammy, the experience still made him feel like a winner.

“Without question when you think of all the thousands of projects that people are doing every day and we are one of the top five to get to that level and I know all the work that went into it,” Houser said. “Of course, I’ve had three albums out on my own and never put an album out that was this detailed I guess but we had a label behind us with a budget so that made a lot of difference.”

Houser said outside of the Grammys itself he got to tour the Warner Brothers Studio and got to go on a classic tour where he got to see the streets where famous actors Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Lauren Bacall spent their days. Houser said he also got to sit and talk with Marla Maples who is the ex-wife of President Donald Trump.

Houser did say he has some big news coming out soon.

“I would suggest keeping an eye on the bluegrass gospel song charts next week,” Houser said.