Deacon Lunchbox

Deacon Lunchbox was the stage name of Atlanta performance artist and poet Timothy Tyson Ruttenber (1950 – April 19, 1992^[1]). Ruttenber, a construction worker by day, was popular in the Atlanta area for his flamboyant spoken-word performances. He often punctuated each line of his poems by banging an old torpedo casing or metal bucket with a hammer. His onstage props included a chainsaw, and often a bra was part of his costume.^[2]

In April 1991, Lunchbox performed live with Bill Taft at the opening night of the "Cartoon Show" at 800 EAST, an arts collective and performance space in Atlanta.^[3][4]

Deacon is credited with giving the Atlanta alternative country music scene its name - the Redneck Underground.^[5] Musician Gregory Dean Smalley, who died in 1996^[6] from AIDS-related complications,^[7] is credited with founding "Bubbalooza", an annual Redneck Underground festival in Atlanta.^[7] In 2012, Bubbapalooza celebrated its 21st anniversary at its annual venue, the Star Community Bar in Little Five Points.^[7][8] The 2025 lineup included the Ghost Riders Car Club, The Sideburners, The Wheel Knockers, and The Downer Brothers.^[9]

Ruttenber died in an auto accident, along with two members of the Atlanta group The Jody Grind (drummer, Rob Clayton, and their bassist, Robert Hayes). The three were riding in a rented cargo van in Montgomery, Alabama, at the time of the accident, when a drunk driver crossed the I-65 median and struck them head-on.

He appeared in Words in Your Face, a PBS documentary about spoken-word performers.