“Call me Ishmael” is one of the most recognizable opening lines in literature. This line does not only kick start “Moby-Dick,” but it signifies the beginning of another journey as the title to Randy Pease’s first released album.
The English instructor’s record came out just two years before he became a full time faculty member in 1999, but his love for music began long before then.
When Pease was 19-years-old and a freshman at Indiana University, he was listening to mainly acoustic music by James Taylor, Neil Young, Cat Stevens and Rod Stewart. So as soon as he could afford it he bought a cheap $70 Yamaha guitar on the Kirkwood strip in Bloomington, Pease said.
“I just got into Bloomington and started paying attention to music and hanging out in clubs,” Pease said. “I saw a lot of good musicians. They usually had cute girlfriends, so I thought maybe I could do this.”
Pease took a few lessons, but mostly taught himself how to play the guitar and read tablature throughout his undergraduate studies at IU. It was not until graduate school at Oklahoma that he started playing publicly in Stillwater, Okla. It was there he met a lot of his best friends that to this day still get together at least once a year and play together.
His first CD “Call Me Ishmael” was released in 1997. Pease then took a 5-year break before releasing his second album “Sometimes the Moon” in 2002, followed by an 8-year break before releasing his third album in the fall of 2010.
“My music is kind of all over the place,” Pease said. “If you had to put a genre to it I would say it is Americana, alternate country with a dabble in rock ‘n roll, rockabilly, bluegrass, blue, rhythm and blues, gospel and even some island sounding tunes.”
Lately, Pease has been focusing on his teaching career and has taken a break from writing music, but the music was not done with him yet. On July 4 a song he wrote 25 years ago hit the Texas music charts at No. 1. The song “The Ballad of Rosalie” which appeared on his first album was recorded by Cody Canada and the Departed.
“They got my permission to record it and release it as a single,” Pease said. “What I never would have imagined in a million years actually happened. I had a number one song for two weeks in Texas.”
Also this summer Pease took a trip to Tulsa to perform with his friends in front of a camera crew. He said he spent a day outside in 106 degree weather just picking and singing with his friends in front of German filmmaker making a movie about the Oklahoma music genre called Red Dirt music.
Pease, who plays his guitar almost daily, does not have a lot of upcoming shows or venues but spends every Tuesday writing with some friends and participates in an open jam session every Thursday in the New Harmony Community Building.
