An evening of music and lyrical entertainment with music from the Figureheads of Dayton, the Mossy Mossy Mosstones and the poetry of Jim Dwyer will be on Nov. 16 at SRS Rehearsal Stage.
Figureheads’ guitarist Joe Tuss describes the revue as a presentation in three acts.
The first act will be spoken word by respected Dayton poet Jim Dwyer.
Act two, titled “Strings, Brothers and Others,” will be a set of music by the Mossy Mossy Mosstones, made up of multi-instrumentalist brothers David and Danny Tuss (Joe’s nephews), and cellist Harrison Allen.
After a short intermission, the Figureheads of Dayton will take the stage for the aptly-named final act, “Survival, Revival and the Future,” a reference to the band’s three-act evolution. Members include vocalist/poet Dwyer, the Tuss trio, bassist Richard Roll and drummer Doug Buchanan.
The Figureheads offers a little bit of rock, heavy Americana and folk, blues and the fringe sounds of 1960s San Francisco… ones that could satisfy both Neil Young and Bob Dylan, post-Newport Folk Festival.
The Figureheads of Dayton — a tongue-in-cheek namesake taken from the Lonnie Brooks song “Figure Head” — is rife with Dayton players and history: a lesson one will learn when spending an hour drinking Americanos with the figureheads of the Figureheads.
Two of the core members, Jim Dwyer and Joe Tuss, have been writing songs together for over 45 years. One night in the 70s, Tuss invited Dwyer over to play music and concoct weird songs — they’ve been doing that basically ever since. Roll, who plays with Dayton staple Puzzle of Light, has also been a member of the Slugs, Riverdale Rats and the Figureheads, too. Their former band(s) have opened up for Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins and many more on some bygone Dayton stages.
Fast forward to 2024, after a hiatus from the ever-evolving, ever-rebranding music collaborative, Dwyer and Tuss are putting together new material and reimagining that which sat dormant for years. Few songs from the old days remain in the setlist, but it will still be blast from the past for old fans and a blast to the future for new ones.
“Joe and I have always had this ability to work together,” Dwyer said. “Both of our egos are just big enough that I don’t have to worry about hurting Joe’s feelings, and he doesn’t have to worry about hurting mine.”
“I think we’re all mature enough to not fight it nearly as long as we used to when we were younger,” Tuss added. “I’ve still got a bunch of stuff. What I tell Jim is there’s a song in here. Now we just have to find it.”
The other Tusses, David and Danny, bring a younger generational perspective to the band (and, as the two veteran musicians admit, drop the average age by at least a couple years). David is a trained violinist, and Danny plays guitar and the kick drum simultaneously. They play together in the Brooklyn-based indie-folk band, the Umbrella Men.
Earlier this year, Joe asked Jim if he “had any gas left in the tank,” to play once again. Jim responded: “we’ll see.”
That “we’ll see” spawned an organic musical reconnection, and the evolution of their musical journey continued. The Figureheads of Dayton made a formal debut at the 2024 Dayton Porchfest.
“In some ways, this is probably the best we’ve ever been at doing this,” Dwyer said. “I think the words I’m writing now are much better than the words I wrote years ago. It’s less of worrying about proving yourself and showing who you are. It’s about trying to do something that has some substance to it.”
“I’m about kicking and screaming into the 21st century,” Tuss said. “We’re playing what we play and doing what we do, with completely different takes on things. But the basic vibe, the basic sense of the music and the lyrics from the Slugs to now... there’s a continuity there. We’re just less afraid.”
Contact this contributing music writer at branberry100@gmail.com.
How to go
What: The Figureheads of Dayton
When: 8 p.m., Nov. 16
Where: SRS Rehearsal Stage, 70 High St., Dayton
Cost: $20, cash only
Parking is available in the public lot on High St.
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