Tony Cummings quizzed Texas-born singing star DAVID PHELPS

David: I've always been a little interested - I mean very interested - in that. That's such a great compliment. I took my family to see Les Mis at the movies.

Tony: I thought it was wonderful, didn't you?

David: Yes, fantastic. I have recorded "Bring Him Home", the tenor piece; that's on this project, 'Classic'. I've sung it for years. My wife has always said that sees me venturing into that. She's right about most things: she's sitting here, so I have to say that.

Tony: Do your daughters enjoy your music or are they more into Lady Gaga?

David: They are very eclectic listeners; they both like a lot of different things. They'll listen to the latest Lady Gaga hit, or whoever it is. I remember they went through a Jonas Brothers phase. But they also love Adele, and they have their classical pieces they love as well. My youngest daughter Maggie Beth is extremely into Broadway and probably knows the part she would love to sing in just about every musical; it's pretty impressive. She plays it so much that my two sons know most of it too by osmosis.

Tony: Why would anyone want to buy your version of "Nessun Dorma" when they've got Pavarotti's to buy?

David: [Laughs] That is good! But it's not a hard one for me to answer. Before Pavarotti there were voices that people absolutely loved. At this stage in the game for me, I am grateful to be considered a voice of any stature in this generation. I really am grateful to be able to record and sing and keep doing it. I talked to my voice teacher from college - she came to one of my concerts; she makes it out wherever I'm close - and I told her I was going to be recording "Nessun Dorma". She said, "Great!" She had been pushing me into classical music. I said, "I'm not going to try to compete with Pavarotti. I'm not going to do it that way. I have to do it my way." She said, "Don't worry, you just sing it like you believe that you should." So that gave me some permission. I have a great love for classical music, but I also am surrounded by people, and have an audience, who haven't necessarily appreciated classical music. So I wanted to do this song in a way that it didn't necessarily feel like it was part of a greater piece, like an opera. I wanted to do this song tipping my hat to the classical side of it, but seeing it as an individual love song. I've been amazed at the response. Honestly, it's been a pivotal moment in my career.

Tony: Did you ever dream of entering opera or classical?

David: There was a side of me that really loved that. I went to school and I studied classical music, and I even auditioned for the Met when I was in college - got to the finals in that. But what really interested me about Southern gospel music at the time was the self-expression, while opera and classical music you are replicating an art form - it's more about the art of playing it in the style it was originally intended. In pop or gospel, the music of the day, there is a lot more room for self-expression. To me, not only that, but there was the chance to communicate more direct themes to an audience. I was really pulled in that direction, and still am: that's what feeds me, the night-to-night live performance, looking someone in the eye and being able to both create art and also say some things through that art.

Tony: Is Southern gospel old men singing in badly-fitting wigs?

David: I don't mind that question at all. There is a side of my audience that would tend to say, "My favourite thing is Southern gospel". But because of the eclecticism of my voice, and my music, I have people who would consider themselves contemporary Christian music fans, and people who just are coming to hear the music in general. The people that come to my event is a really eclectic mix of an audience; I've always been so grateful for that. Speaking to the Southern gospel style itself, I would have to disagree with you. We meet kids there, we meet elderly people there, and it really is a music style of joy. It has its roots in country music.

Tony: Hasn't it diversified now so that it isn't a single musical style?

David: I'm amazed at some of the songs of mine that the Southern gospel audience has latched onto and they'll call Southern gospel. One of my songs on one of my first records was "End Of The Beginning" and it's a rock opera song. Because of the way the lyrical content is very upfront and straightforward about the Gospel of Jesus, they absolutely love it. The thing is, what defines gospel music is not a style: what defines gospel music is a message. Southern gospel music is a division - it's a stylistic division of gospel music - and it's truly based on the way the lyric is presented. If a lyric is presented very clearly and straightforward, the Southern gospel genre will latch onto it and will absolutely love it. The thing I love about the Southern gospel audience is that they are very loyal, like a country audience. It is not a fickle audience. When Kenny Rogers started his career he was in a rock band; he came over to visit his future wife in Nashville, went to Fanfare and saw this audience absolutely go wild for a country music star that had been around for 50 years. In his mind he said, "This is where I want to be. I don't want to be with this audience who is here today and gone tomorrow." He made the switch over into country music. The gospel music industry is very much like that as well. It has a fanbase that sticks with its artists, and really supports them and calls them their own.

Tony: Hopes and plans for the future?

David: This 'Classic' project is new right now. We're putting together a tour this year that I'm going to be touring overseas. This summer we're doing 12 dates in Europe, including London, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Amsterdam. Later on we'll be heading over a little further east into Romania and possibly Beirut and Singapore.