5 Questions for Ashley Gearing ’09 We caught up with rising country singing sensation Ashley Gearing ’09 while she was home for the holidays from Belmont University.
1 . When did you first start singing?
Honestly, I’ve been singing since before I could talk. I started singing in front of people at church when I was seven. Then people would say, ‘Come sing at my sister’s wedding,’ or, ‘Come sing at my best friend’s birthday party’ and I would get called upon to do a bunch of different crazy things. I decided it was something I really loved to do and started taking singing lessons. 2. You moved to Nashville while enrolled at Williston but returned. What were you feeling at that time?
I started to get a lot of traction in Nashville my freshman year and I got nervous that being in Massachusetts was going to slow me down. That’s kind of it in the music industry; you have to follow the pull and demand. I moved to Nashville the fall of my sophomore year and enrolled in a school there. The school experience wasn’t what I was used to at Williston: not musical, not creative. That's when I decided to return. 3. What did you enjoy most about your time at Williston?
I played varsity volleyball and I really got to experience being on a team; before then I never understood why everyone was so enthusiastic about playing a team sport. For singing I was always on my own. Being on the volleyball team…there were all these people who were so different than me, but we were all best friends because we shared that common goal of being on a team together. It was important for me to feel that normalcy.
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4. Which faculty members made the biggest impression on you?
Senior year, I remember, I had Stan Samuelson for math, and I am so bad at math. By the end of the year I was the only one in the class who got 100 percent on the final. He called me and said, “Ashley, you are good at math because guess what, you got 100 and you’re the only one.” My mind was blown. Mr. Demerath was so instrumental, and he still is. We still keep in contact. He made me play my guitar in chapel one day, and I was so nervous, but he encouraged me. I always thought I was just a singer, and he was the one who said, ‘No, you’re a guitar player, you’re going to get up and play for them.’ I did and I was terrified, but I felt so good the rest of the day because my friends could finally see the other side of me. I’m really thankful for him. 5. What can you tell me about your career plans after graduation from Belmont University?
The plan is to graduate from college and then go on tour and promote the music we’ve been working on for the past four years. I don’t want a person to look at me just as this 21-year-old who wants to come and sing. No, there’s a brain and there’s feelings and opinions that I have and feel confident about...I definitely have big goals that I haven’t reached yet. Please email alumni@williston.com to receive our Alumni Connections newsletter or visit our blog www.willistonblogs.com/alumni