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Gray native hitting high notes in gospel music
industry
Katie Van Syckle
Correspondent
Published: Friday, November 19, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
GRAY — Jerome Howard said he often thinks back to the time he spent playing
organ at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Gray — a skill that has followed him through
adulthood.
Today, the 46-year-old Gray native operates a gospel music label, writes songs for
gospel artists like Walter Hawkins and was recently named one of Epitome Gospel
Magazine's Artists to Watch in 2010 in the magazine's August issue.
Howard, who now resides in Allen, Texas, with his wife and co-producer, Charita
Howard, is a full-time music director at New Life Community Church in Frisco,
Texas.
The pair have recently released their second album, “He's My Help,” on their label,
Twin City Voices of Praise.
As writer and producer, Jerome Howard said he is committed to preserving the
traditional style of gospel music.
“I am staying true to the true art of gospel,” he said. “A lot of gospel artists go more
toward sounding just like secular music because they want to compete with secular
music. They want to be in that arena, hang out with rap artists and look exactly like
secular artists. We want to keep our focus on the true form of gospel music.”
Charita Howard, 46, agrees with her husband's direction and point of view.
“We are trying to put out the message that people's lives will really be changed and
look beyond pain and really see the ministry in this,” she said.
Jerome Howard, son of Gray residents Samuel and Annette Howard and brother of
Steven and Shonda Howard, learned to play the drums at 9 and has created music
his whole life. He became interested in gospel music as a student at the University of
Southwestern Louisiana, now the university of Louisiana at Lafayette.
After graduation, he taught music at H.L. Bourgeois High School in Gray, before
moving to Texas to work as an assistant music director at North Community Bible
Fellowship Church in Dallas. It was there that he met Charita, who was working as a
choir director.
The newlyweds moved to New Birth Cathedral of Praise in Sherman, Texas, where
they stayed for four years and formed the choir, Twin City Voices of Praise
Community Choir, which eventually became the namesake for their label.
Jerome Howard's south Louisiana roots are still apparent in his compositions, the
music director said.
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“We have a different flavor down there when it comes to music,” he said. “A lot of
people can tell that I am from somewhere else when it comes to music when I play.
My style has such a different flavor on the songs that we play, and that uniqueness
sets me apart from what I hear other musicians in the Dallas area play.”
Howard said he hopes to bring his experiences back to south Louisiana and add
Louisiana residents to his label.
“Wherever we go, I still have that Louisiana twist on what I do,” Jerome Howard
said. “There is a lot of talent in the Houma-Thibodeaux area, and I would love to get
down there and help them be exposed to this world.”
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