Musicians can always be counted on to step up and donate their talents for a good cause. Drummer Tommy Mastro is a musician who likes to help others, so when his friends and family members decided to host a fundraiser to help him with expenses as he copes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it made him uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of such charity, but it also filled him with emotion.
“To be on this side of it is humbling and really moving,” said Mastro, who lived in Red Bank and Lincroft and taught drum students at Musician’s Workshop, Manalapan, and Music University, Freehold, before his music career took him to California and Nashville. “It’s overwhelming to realize how many people care about you. It’s really cool.”
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. As the disease progresses, it causes the death of motor neurons that transport impulses from the brain to the muscle fibers, causing muscles to atrophy or waste away, and eventually to stop functioning. Early symptoms can present as weakness in the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing.
There is no cure for ALS.
Mastro’s symptoms began three years ago when he noticed his right foot lost its “snap” when he played the bass drum and he also felt very sluggish, so he switched his drum set around and played as a lefty and consulted what became a series of doctors. A neurologist diagnosed him with ALS after years of tests for multiple sclerosis and other diseases.
Mastro has come to terms with what the future holds for him. Giving up playing the drums and teaching as his energy waned was difficult, but Mastro’s attitude is still upbeat, as it always has been.
“I’ve had it good,” Mastro said. “I’ve had a great life; years in New York, California, Tennessee, New Jersey, going on tours with my bands. Playing with Brian Kirk for four years, Rory Daniels, and my original band, The Discontent … any one of those chunks is a lifetime of fun. I was very blessed to do what I love. I am not throwing in the towel.”
Mastro now lives in Florida near a support system that includes his brother and friends. He does everything he can to keep himself healthy, and he hopes to see a cure or a way to slow down the progression of the illness in his lifetime. His body may have slowed down, but his mind is still making plans to help others.
He explained that because of the rarity of cases of ALS compared to other illnesses, government funding for research is not strong. Mastro said nothing has changed since New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig had the disease 70 years ago.
“They say it’s rare, only 30,000 to 40,000 cases, yet everyone I speak to knows someone who has dealt with it,” Mastro said.
He is working to establish a national database that would document the number of people suffering with ALS and connect them to people in the neurological field with the goal of motivating them to more aggressively research methods to slow down the progression, alleviate the symptoms and ultimately find a cure.
Mastro is working on a series of drum instruction books based on his own method. He is filled with pride when he speaks of passing the knowledge he amassed from his own drum instructors Casey Shuerell, Tommy Igoe, Alan Dawson, Kenwood Dennard and Joe Nevelo down to his own students, some of whom are now teachers themselves, inspired by Mastro. He looks forward to seeing his students and fellow musicians at the fundraiser.
Together for Tommy will be held at The Headliner, Neptune, 3-7 p.m. June 9. A $20 donation will be accepted at the door. Entertainment will include the Pat Roddy Band, Rory Daniels, ASAP and others. For details, visit togetherfortommy.com.