Tracy Chapman (LA '86), famed singer-songwriter, attended Tufts. Popular alternative rock band Guster was founded at Tufts, and more recently, Timeflies, which performed at the Lollapalooza music festival this summer, was also created on the Hill.
Navigating the music scene at Tufts these days, though, can be a little difficult, according to junior Maeve Bell-Thornton. She has found that many bands start from sharing their work and jamming together.
Freshman year there were two guys who were playing around on the floor below me in Houston. They needed a singer," she said.
Out of this interaction grew the first Tufts band in which she became involved, Young Excursion, and Bell-Thornton, though panicked at first when there seemed to be very few folk musicians at Tufts looking to jam, was satisfied with the new group.
"I was so relieved to have a group because [Young Excursion] didn't start a few months into school ... and I was like 'where are the music-y people, I can't find them anywhere,'" she said.
Senior Emma Scudder said that, when she came to Tufts, she secretly played in her dorm room but her floormates quickly encouraged her to play more.
"I then wanted [to] figure out who else was playing this kind of music on campus," Scudder said. "It didn't seem like there was really a place where people were getting together."
Bell-Thornton explained that, like Scudder, she is shy with new collaborators.
"I get very nervous especially at first when I don't know people and I'm singing around them and I'm like, oh this is ... intimidating because I'm kinda putting my heart and soul out there right now on the line," Bell-Thornton said.
Personal creativity, she said, must be combined with solid group collaboration to allow a band some successes.
"Skill is important, but I think what's most important is not being too intimidated by who you're playing with," Bell-Thornton said. "Then things flow so much better and that affects the quality of what you're playing. You have to be willing to lose some sleep over it, to prioritize it."
The Tufts community sets a high standard for its musicians and provides an opportunity to build a following, according to senior Hayes Peebles.
"To stick, to become something in the Tufts stratosphere, you need to be good and need to be doing things that people enjoy, but you need to be part of the community as well," Peebles said.
Bell-Thornton added that the music community offered a social outlet.
"Also, socially, it was something that I really need. It was just a relief more than anything," she said.
Hailing from Nashville, Tenn., Bell-Thornton said she grew up surrounded by music, and playing the guitar happened organically for her.
"My dad was a musician so there were ... guitars lying around the house and there's a piano in our living room so I was like, well, free guitars
