(Photos courtesy of Little Art Theatre)
Little Art Theatre’s Songwriters Round series continues
- Published: September 23, 2025
Live music will return to the stage at Little Art Theatre Wednesday, Sept. 24, with the second iteration of the Songwriters Round series — this time featuring one of the Little Art’s own.
Musicians TINO, Paige Beller, James Lampe and Caleab Wyant will take the stage together for the “Dayton Deconstructed” installment of the Songwriters Round, taking turns presenting their work to the audience.
The series launched in March featuring local women musicians across generations, curated and hosted by Dayton-based singer-songwriter Kyleen Downes, known to locals as both a performer and host of the weekly open mic sessions at Peach’s. When it came time to plan the series’ next chapter, Downes told the News last week, she felt there was a natural place to start.
“This guy needs to perform,” Downes said, nodding toward Theater Manager Wyant, who worked with Downes to set up the first Songwriters Round event and is, himself, a longtime performer in and around Dayton.
“Performing is not new to him, but this format is,” Downes said. “So I started thinking, ‘What’s the throughline with Caleab?’”
Wyant’s roots in Dayton’s music scene stretch back nearly two decades, beginning around 2006.
“That’s when I met all of the other three performers,” he said.
Wyant and Lampe were both part of the punk-prog-electronia outfit He Laughs He Learns He Loves for several years in the late 2000s, and crossed paths with Beller when she fronted the pop-punk trio Jasper the Colossal; the two acts performed together as part of a concert celebrating an album launch for He Laughs He Learns He Loves in 2009. Around the same time, TINO was performing as part of rock/hip hop/R&B group Sidekick Complex, along with Beller, who was the group’s drummer.
“Multiple times throughout the years, we’ve all been on the same bill together,” Wyant said.
That built-in history is part of what makes this lineup click, Downes said. But beyond shared history, the four artists also maintain a shared vivacity of spirit in their live performances, which have filled venues from basements to bars to banquet halls.
“They’re all high-energy; there’s an element of, ‘This is a fun show to be at,’” Downes said.
In an email shared with the News, Lampe expressed similar sentiments, saying he believes the upcoming performance is a “rare and unique opportunity, not only because I get to share the stage with three long-time friends whose artistry I’ve admired for years, but because there’s a real throughline that connects us as musicians, people and contributors to the local community.”
Each of the performers slated for the Little Art’s second Songwriters Round has shifted their musical focus over the last decade; for his part, Wyant began performing in 2015 as half of noise pop duo YIKES A BAND, and more recently has formed half of electro-pop/disco twosome Extraordinary Twins. TINO has continued to perform hip hop, often solo, blending old school sounds with alternative elements to produce his signature sound. Beller, also performing solo these days, employs a variety of instruments — drums, guitar, keys, synth and loops — to round out lyrics that dig at a deep emotional core. Lampe, guitarist for prog-punk band Abertooth Lincoln and songwriter for indie rock project Bertram, also delves into acoustic music, influenced by the likes of John K. Samson and John Prine.
Downes and Wyant said that the vibe they hope to cultivate for the Songwriters Round — and successfully cultivated for the first event in the series — is one that’s distinct from the kinds of venues where the four artists often perform.
“It’s so nice to be able to hear the intricacies of a song in a listening room like this,” Downes said. “The acoustics are great. And then it feels like you get more of the story out of a song, because people are in a theater, and it’s almost like they’re expecting some kind of story arc.”
“This venue is unique for music,” Wyant added, “just because it allows you to focus on the performance. And you’re not at a bar, competing with bar noise.”
The shift in atmosphere has shaped how the artists are approaching their sets. The instrumentation will be deliberately stripped down — just the songwriters and their songs. Wyant said he’ll switch between guitar and keyboard; Beller’s setup will likely be similar, with the added element of an electronic drum, Downes said, and Lampe will go “super intimate” with just guitar and vocals. TINO will add his own twist, performing with a sampler and backing tracks.
Each songwriter will take a turn introducing a song, telling its backstory and then performing it, all while seated side-by-side on stage. Downes noted that during the first Songwriters Round, the featured musicians also talked with each other throughout the show, reacting to and riffing on one another’s songs as they went. Wyant said he’s hoping for more of that when it’s his turn to take the Little Art stage.
“I was surprised the night of because [the performers] were in conversation with each other, too,” he said. “It felt very alive.”
He added: “And selfishly, I just keep thinking that these are three of my favorite — three of the best — songwriters in the Dayton area. So I just get to be an audience member, too.”
Wyant acknowledged that playing in a stripped-down setting where the audience members are all seated will be something of a “big shift” for him — “I haven’t played for a seated audience since I was in high school show choir,” he said with a laugh — but that offering both fans of the billed acts and interested newcomers a place to sit back, relax and listen is what he and Downes hope will make the series worth continuing. He said that the concession stand will be open during the performance, there’ll be an intermission, and he and Downes hope the same relaxed energy from March carries over.
“We’ll get the collection of fan bases that come,” Wyant said. “But what’s cool about this is … you don’t usually see those bands in conversation with each other and sharing the stage.”
“Songwriters Round: Dayton Deconstructed” is set for Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Little Art Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and music starts at 7. Tickets are $20.
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