By Chrissy Kang · Contributing Writer
With all the concerts we’ve had this school year — and more coming up — it is no surprise that our musically inclined campus produced a graduate who is now a Pittsburgh singer-songwriter.
Bill Deasy, who graduated from the college in 1988, said he fell in love with music at a very young age. Particularly, he was a fan of Elvis Presley. Since his childhood was filled with music, he felt compelled to create his own. During his college years, he formed a duo with another student, David Bailey, and they performed original music on a weekly basis. After college, he and some friends formed the band Gathering Field in Pittsburgh. The band was well received.
One of their most popular songs Deasy wrote was “Lost in America.” It was also his favorite. Usually, it would take Deasy a lot of time to compose and refine lyrics, but this song just came to him. He finished it in about 10 minutes, and it became a hit. “A lot of people in Pittsburgh know that song and will sing along to it,” he said. On March 6, an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of this song will be held in Pittsburgh Winery.
Deasy’s favorite memory from his career was the band’s performance outside of the football stadium in Pittsburgh on July 4, with roughly 10,000 audience members attending. “They just all knew every word to every song,” he recalled. It remains a powerful moment for him. According to Deasy, his biggest success is the song “Good Things are Happening,” which became the theme for “Good Morning America,” a show on ABC. He stepped into the commercial scene in New York because of this song and had a place on national television.
Looking back on his time at Grove City College, he said that he appreciates the opportunities he had to start making his own music in this community. “If I’d gone to a bigger school or a different school, I’m not sure I would have had that experience where I would have felt encouraged to be creative in the way that I was.” But in Grove City, he had the stage to perform and people who were willing to listen.
Besides music, he enjoys literature, and English classes at the college were his favorite. Spurred by this passion, Deasy wrote three novels. His first book, “Random Seaborn,” takes place in a fictional setting of based closely on Grove City. Some of his characters were directly inspired by professors at the college, with names that closely resemble their inspirations. The novel won the 2006 Needle Award, and Deasy is working on turning it into a movie with the hope that he can shoot at the college.
Deasy’s advice to young musicians is to follow their passion and be bold. “And love what you do. Love what you create … If you love the music that you’re making, there’s a really good chance that other people will love it too,” Deasy said.
