Features : The Figureheads of Dayton’s Sardinia Sessions, a Debut Americana Album Four Decades in the Making

The Sardinia Sessions sounds nothing like a debut album.

Technically, it is the first recording by the Ohio band, The Figureheads of Dayton. But a technicality is missing the point. Dick Roll, Joe Tuss, Doug Buchanan and Jim Dwyer have a musical history stretching back 4+ decades, forged in the working class city of Dayton with its rock, funk, and bluegrass soul.

They started as the Slugs. That crashed and burned by 1983. Other projects followed, but so did life. Families. Careers. Addictions and recoveries. And above all, survival.

Jim says, “The Sardinia Sessions is our statement that we survived, and we’ve got something to say after all the s*** we’ve been through.”

Now they’re back as The Figureheads of Dayton, with Joe’s nephews David and Danny Tuss rounding out the band. They teamed up with Atomic J Records, run by Mike Pratt, and with Steve Kramer at his old bank vault studio in Sardinia, OH. The 10-song collection was recorded there in 2.5 days, mostly live. 

The album was mixed by Justin Eldridge and is now out everywhere, including on CD (available at legendary Dayton record store Omega Music). 

Sonically, the band has a tight rock sound, held together by Dick and Doug’s bass and drums. Guitars and violin add melody, while Jim Dwyer growls his vocals like a grizzled bluesman. Songwriting duties are shared by Jim and Joe. The songs are about everything from solidarity with outsiders to loving and letting go of the past. And, of course, getting older.

The fourth track off the album, “Margaret’s Song,” begins with Joe Tuss’s acoustic guitar. David Tuss joins with a violin melody. Then the whole band is off and running, just in time for Jim Dwyer's gruff and fitting opening line: I’m the old man Sunday morning at McDonald’s.

Dwyer waxes philosophical, like Dylan or Waits. He wants us to know there’s no superheroes. Nobody coming to save us. He bothers the purple-haired kid behind the counter, telling him he used to play in a band. The kid’s not buying it.

Then, unexpectedly, the singalong chorus hits. A change of chords and vocal harmonies uplift the grumpy old philosopher, transporting the music, as the song says, into something sublime.

I’m always alone, I’m never alone, I’m never gonna make it all the way home
Everybody’s a star, terrible and sublime, it’s the beauty that breaks my heart every time

These moments of transcendence are perhaps only possible among musicians who have shared a lifetime together. It’s the sound of the years, from the glory days of The Slugs tearing up Dayton, to the serenity of a recording session in an old bank, in the middle of nowhere.

The Figureheads of Dayton have two upcoming live shows: on September 4th, they perform at the Hidden Gem in Dayton, and on September 19th, they will be playing a PorchFest-style music festival in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Fans can expect to hear plenty of songs off of their debut album that was four decades in the making.

The Sardinia Sessions and the single “Margaret’s Song” are out now with promotional support from Starlight PR. Follow The Figureheads of Dayton at the links below.

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Your new favorite might be here; stream “Margaret’s Song” today!