“A Break for the Blessed” Debuts at Elmhurst Unplugged

“A Break for the Blessed” performs their original song “Matcha Latte (Caramel Macchiato)” at Elmhurst Unplugged on Nov. 6. (Courtesy Vicky Palomino)

Elmhurst University’s Unplugged saw seven performances in one evening, but one group, “A Break for the Blessed,” stood out in particular. With a demo now out on Spotify and plans for more original music, the group took to the stage on Nov. 6 in what felt like a culminating moment for its members.

Upperclassmen Vicky Palomino, Nigel Haye, Liz Acevedo, and Jamie Cruz have been attempting to form a band for at least a year, but SEMFA (Student Entertainment: Music & Fine Arts) was their chance to really get something off the ground.

SEMFA is a club at EU that revolves around student musicians and helps them find other musicians to create lyrics, write songs, and even record and produce tracks.

Palomino recounts, “We were at SEMFA one day, it was the first SEMFA meeting, and we first met Sam [Greene], and we were like ‘he’s really good!’”

Sam Greene, a freshman at EU, formed the final core member of “A Break for the Blessed,” even learning piano to join the group. He initially joined with the intention of being included in Unplugged, but is excited to work long-term with the group.

“I really appreciate being included in [Unplugged],” said Greene. “You guys could have totally taken the idea and run with it, and I would have been like ‘oh, ok.’”

The group’s second piece, “Matcha Latte (Caramel Macchiato),” was a crowd-pleaser and brought a peppy, upbeat tune to the evening’s more relaxed vibe. The song and lyrics came relatively easily, but the name has been in contention among members.

Depending on the day and the individual, the song ranged from being “Matcha Latte” to “Caramel Macchiato” to “Nigel’s Coffee Shop,” and more.

Greene and others laughed as he said, “As long as it’s not ‘The Coffee Song’ as Nigel calls it.”

“We were talking about random ideas and then the whole thing of performative male came up, so like matcha, and like, ‘hmm, where can I run with that,’’ said Palomino. “From that, Liz started making stuff up, making a scene lyrically.”

“Matcha Latte (Caramel Macchiato)” was a collaborative effort from all members, including lyrics, instrumentation, and even re-instrumentation for Unplugged specifically.

“On the first demo recording, I was playing bass, but they don’t allow that at Unplugged, so I had to do some shifting around,” said Greene.

Almost none of the members of “A Break for the Blessed” drink coffee regularly.

“I have a picture in my phone of like, the ideas board, and there’s like a list of a bunch of different coffee types,” said Greene.

Which then prompted the group to go around and claim none of them particularly liked coffee.

“Liz [Acevedo] is a fiend for coffee,” said Palomino.

Despite that, the group managed to make a silly and light-hearted song that they were happy to share with the world.

“The song shouldn’t be taken too seriously. We have this 67 joke in there,” said Greene.

“And then the ‘Hey I’m walkin’ here!’ joke,” followed up Palomino.

“A Break for the Blessed” released “Matcha Latte (Caramel Macchiato)” on Spotify the same day as Unplugged, Nov. 6.

The group is excited and looking forward to continuing their performing career as an ensemble and to further themselves as musicians individually.

“I view this as a stepping stone to performing,” said Palomino. “I’m glad I was able to share this moment with you guys.”