Three football players and a soccer player walk into a bar…
But this is no joke. The Tombs is packed with Georgetown students ready to enjoy a live performance from the Fellas Band, and these four athletes have serious rock ’n’ roll talent.
The Fellas Band comprises Graham Hill and Shane Stewart on vocals, with Sebastian Alonso and Diego Letayf on guitar. Letayf, the soccer player, is the only one remaining on campus—Hill, Stewart, and Alonso, who played for Georgetown’s football team, graduated in 2024.
Alonso and Stewart started the group. Alonso played various instruments growing up and is always looking for a chance to jam. Stewart, his former teammate, loves to sing.
“Shane [Stewart] had posted a TikTok video of him singing and playing the ukulele,” Alonso told the Voice in a Zoom interview with the band. “I was like, ‘dude, we’re on the same team, we might as well see if I could play the guitar and you could sing.’”
Alonso and Stewart started playing together around their friends. Then, as Alonso recalls it, Stewart remembered Hill—his freshman roommate—also had a gifted voice, and encouraged him to join. Hill felt uncomfortable singing in front of people at first, but blossomed, backed by his buddies’ confidence. Just like that, the Fellas Band was born.
Alonso, Stewart, and Hill formed the core, with an assortment of football friends helping. When the football team won their first 2023 season game the Fellas held a concert afterward, filling a backyard with a crowd of parents, teammates, and close friends. Their dream of playing live was a rousing success.
“We all decided after that: we want to do that again,” Hill said.
According to Alonso, a Goodfellas poster in his Georgetown townhouse inspired the Fellas Band name, but also the welcoming quality the name conveys. “Going to see the Fellas” sounds like a casual time with close friends, the exact feeling the band strives to create with its intimate pop-up shows.
But the band was not yet complete. Not many Georgetown students have more experience performing live music than Letayf. He performed for years with Brookside, a band of his high school friends, before Alonso asked if he wanted to give jamming with the Fellas a shot.
“Another teammate of mine had mentioned to me that there was another student athlete who was an avid guitar player and enthusiast,” Alonso said. “I went up to Diego [Letayf] in the training room, which we all share and is a common place for all of us to meet in terms of different sports.”
Letayf loved the idea of playing music with other athletes, and they became fast friends.
“I didn’t know it would turn into something more serious, but it did,” he said.
The Fellas’ time together on campus was short, but they made the most of it. They launched an Instagram account, performing in Georgetown backyards throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. During the Spring 2023 semester, they headlined the GUSYs (the annual celebration of Georgetown student-athletes), competed in the Battle of the Bands at Public Bar, and played at The Tombs twice.
“We had a good amount of excitement around [our performance at Tombs],” Hill said. “That show had really good energy.”
Alonso, Hill, and Letayf described the band’s music style as “country-alternative,” finding the most enjoyment in covering groovier, more sophisticated songs, but still loving the crowd’s reaction to the popular classics.
“Whenever we would play country songs like ‘Something in the Orange,’ [by Zach Bryan] or a song by Noah Kahan, it would hit,” Hill told the Voice.
Sports and music share many of the same qualities, from perfecting one’s craft to the adrenaline rush of performing live in front of fans. For those who do both, the connection is inherent.
“In any sport, once you get your first play out of the way, you know how comfortable you’ll be for the rest of it. I feel like it was the same for us; once we performed our first song, the nerves went away and we were just having a blast out there,” Alonso said.
Being a student-athlete at Georgetown requires a special commitment. With practices every day, games at least once a week, and frequent overnight travel on top of courses, not much time remains. For Letayf, this balance came naturally; rather than cause extra stress, it cured it.
“It honestly made things easier, because music is like therapy in a lot of ways,” he said. “For me, when there’s stressful times in sports, it’s super easy to get your mind off things by picking up the guitar and noodling around.”
When Hill discovered his love for songwriting, typing lyrics in his notes at night provided the same comfort. The group’s friendship also allowed them to lean on each other for support.
“We were together every single night,” Hill said. “It wasn’t hard to balance because it was such a priority throughout the year.”
The Fellas have gone their separate ways, but the spirit of their performances lives on. Their debut single, “Street Sign Named Grace,” released to streaming platforms on Feb. 21, 2025.
“It’s about receiving grace when you least expect it…we’re undeserving of it, but we receive it anyway,” Hill said.
And this is just the beginning; they have another song releasing soon.
The Fellas lead busy lives—Letayf still trains daily and travels for soccer, and the others have their own jobs. However, they hope spontaneous performances can occur once in a while.
“The Fellas are always gonna be more like a brotherhood—it’s like friendship, not like a serious job,” Letayf said. “I know we’re all gonna perform at each other’s weddings.”
