21 Tales of Tastemakers: Alyssa Mastrocco

Tastemakers Presents’€¦ is the event that brings us all together. Twice a year we wake up with the sun, perform various tasks of manual labor, yell at strangers and freeze our butts off.  No matter how much it sounds like it should be a day of misery, it always ends up to be one of my favorite days of the year. This fall, we had Gypsyblood, Good Old War and Maps & Atlases on campus, and Good Old War hosted a cover contest as a promotion for the show.  Fellow Tastemaker Chris Stoppiello and I submitted an entry for ‘€œJust Another Day,’€ and as an added bonus, we won.

For me, it was enough just to win, but as our prize, we asked for a signed vinyl and made our way up to their greenroom. Upon entering the room, we found Dave Davison of Maps & Atlases with his guitar out. Two of the trio of Good Old War, Tim Arnold (drummer) and Dan Schwartz (guitarist), signed ‘€œTo Chris and Alyssa, that cover was amazing!’€ and while we were waiting for Keith Goodwin (singer) to return, we found ourselves in an impromptu acoustic jam session. Dan, Tim and Dave began playing ‘€œJust Another Day’€ with Dan strumming away and Dave acting as a capo. Keith came back as they started the second verse to finish the song.

After some discussion, Dave took his guitar back, and began playing ‘€œIsraeli Caves’€ off of Perch Patchwork. With Dave’s strikingly unique voice, impressive humming volume and the harmonies provided by Dan, Tim and Keith, this was a beautiful moment. They played through the song a few times, tweaking it each time. They played it later on, during Maps & Atlases’ set, but the performance in that classroom in Shillman Hall is one of the moments I recall when I’m strolling on campus and thinking about how much I love being a Tastemaker.

Editor’s Note: Alyssa Mastrocco is the Features Editor.