John “Bass” Deese

age: 28 | Director of Bands | Pleasant Grove ISD

During his entire life, Bass Deese has grown up around music educators, as well as other teachers and administrators. His parents have spent the entirety of their careers teaching in the Texarkana area, and their influence grew on him when it came time for him to determine what he wanted to do with his life. “I started playing piano at a very young age, and after I joined Beginner Band in the 6th grade, I eventually aspired to become a band director like my father, Buddy Deese,” he explains.  “My job is to give my students the same wonderful experiences in band that I had when I was a student. Our program is designed to give students an opportunity to perform in Marching Band, Jazz Band, Concert Band, and various small ensembles.”

Although he has only been teaching for five years, Bass’ greatest professional accomplishment was being offered the position of director of bands at Pleasant Grove. Though this offer presented itself unexpectedly, his all-time career goal was to lead his own band program, and this was an offer he could not refuse.

Marrying the love of his live, Antonia, is one of his greatest personal achievements.  She shares the same passion for music as Bass does and also happens to be a coworker of his at PGISD.  Being accepted into the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, a 10-time world champion drum corps based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania, is also an accomplishment for Bass. “[Being a part of this drum corps] shaped my love and admiration for the marching arts and helped propel me to finish out my music degree,” he acknowledges.

Bass’ community involvement revolves around (drum roll) ... music.  Outside of his professional career, he performs piano for various community groups, weddings, and other public events in the Texarkana area. He also plays piano and trumpet for the Texarkana Jazz Orchestra, and plays trumpet for local churches, such as First Baptist Church Texarkana and First United Methodist Church-Beech Street. With the assistance of the band directing staff at PG, students at the school receive multiple opportunities to perform in the Texarkana area.  In the future, Bass’ plans are to continue to influence the lives of band students and help them pursue their passions beyond high school, even if said career choices are not musically-related.

Best piece of advice:

“To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late.” – Buddy Deese, Bass’s father

Name something about you that very few people know:

“My childhood mostly consisted of band, piano lessons, and sports. On top of that, my younger sister, Kate, who took dance lessons, volun-told me to play a part in two different ballet productions, which was an area that was completely out of my league!”