Long Live the Dummy Light

Library, band to celebrate Beacon landmark As Beacon's odd but iconic street fixture turns 100, The Dummy Lights are enjoying a moment. In April, the band, which includes alums of the Dogwood (now Cooper's) stage and Beacon Music Factory bootcamps, began a Second Saturday residency at Quinn's on Main Street. Before its next show on Oct. 10, the Lights will perform an acoustic set at the Howland Public Library's opening of an art exhibit featuring visual works that celebrate the traffic signal's centennial. At a recent Quinn's gig that kicked off after the galleries closed and the blues band at Denning's Point Distillery wrapped up its final set, Tom Rigney dedicated a song to "the thousands of cars and trucks that have smashed into the dummy light." (Most recently, it was struck on Thanksgiving 2023.) The band also announced "beer-thirty" — with a toast — which can be anytime. Though they like to joke around, the band members take their music seriously. The lineup is about a year old, says Rigney, who plays bass and acoustic guitar. Back in the day, he and others signed with indie labels (The Moths, for him), so they know how to craft songs and put them over. The tunes are short and catchy, sans jams or extended solos. With Slim Simon on lead guitar, the band leans toward a streamlined, countrified sound. (He also plays mandolin and slide guitar.) Simon, who lives in Connecticut but is considering a move west, makes his own amps. "It's just a wooden box with speakers and some wires," he says. Tight timekeeper Dave Stengel builds drum shells in Beacon and nails tempo shifts and abrupt endings. In "Act Your Age," he doubled up the beat in the chorus and played a stuttering part in "I Can't See the Stars." Chris Hutz sets up an electronic keyboard at gigs, but during a typical set, he's more likely to fill out the string-based sound by squeezing an electric accordion. Though songs are collaborative efforts, where suggestions are made (and some taken), guitarist John Kelly is the main songwriter and lead singer. "Mini Dummy," by Polly Perkins "Dummy Moon," by Brandon Fiege "July 8 PM," by Sharon Zhang "Stop & Go," by Tena Cohen Chemistry in musical groups can be elusive, but the band's mature members maintain a balance. "We're at a different place in life, where we have real jobs and new priorities," says Rigney. "We've all been in situations where people take it too seriously, or there are egos, but that's not us." Musical examples are evident. A surprising but effective bridge emerges midway through the sarcastic "American Dream." Another notable tune, "Knuckle Sandwich," is a country parody portraying a man "born to fight," who wakes up "every morning with an empty bottle in my left hand and a tasty knuckle sandwich in my right." Like the song's protagonist, The Dummy Lights roll with the punches. "We're having a lot of fun," says Rigney. "We don't worry about stupid stuff; we just think about the music and how to make the songs better. What's great about being in an original band is that you can tell a story no one's heard before." The Howland Public Library is located at 313 Main St. in Beacon. A reception for its exhibit, "Beacon's Dummy Light: 100 Years (1926-2026)," will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 10, with The Dummy Lights performing at 5:30 p.m. The band will follow that with a set at 9 p.m. at Quinn's, 330 Main St.