It’s a common story. Musicians struggle for years trying to get listeners to pay attention to their original songs only to face the realization that they can make more money playing songs people already know.

Organ Fairchild took a different path. Dave Ruch, guitars; Corey Kertzie, drums and percussion; and Joe Bellanti, organ and keyboards, started playing together in 1983 in the Buffalo-based Grateful Dead band Wild Knights and didn’t really pursue writing originals until shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Only one of the three of us, the drummer Corey, has written lots of music over the years for other projects, but for the other two of us, we’d never really gotten very far in terms of writing our own music,” Ruch said. “We certainly had not performed in a band that was doing all original music, so it is a brand new adventure for the three of us to be doing it together.”

Organ Fairchild’s three albums don’t ignore the musicians’ rock and jam band roots, but it has a jazzier, funkier sound. Those who don’t know the band’s origins aren’t likely to think, “Grateful Dead” when listening to “Bobby Pins” or “Morning Coffee” from the group’s 2023 release “Leisure Suit.”

“I think the overlap you can find is in the live show, where there is a fair amount of improvisation and a fair amount of songs coming out a little differently each night, depending on how everybody’s feeling,” Ruch said. “Just about every song we do has a sort of a section that’s built in for improvisation where it can go in a number of different directions, depending on what everybody’s thinking about that night. … I think some of that can be traced, definitely traced back to our roots and playing Grateful Dead music.”

Much like the Grateful Dead, Organ Fairchild puts its own stamp on other artists’ song, taking familiar melodies in new directions. That was part of the band’s live set from the beginning, but earlier this year the group released nine of those covers — ranging from songs by Bob Marley to Harry Styles — on “Songs We Didn’t Write.”

Ruch credited his 25-year-old son, Peter, with the idea for that album.

“We sprinkle in covers when we play live as Oregon Fairchild, just to give people something familiar to hang their hat on every once in a while, a couple times per set, let’s say,” he said. “After we were done with our second album of originals, we have about half enough material for our third one. He (Peter) said, ‘You know, in the interim, why don’t you take a bunch of these covers that you guys have kind of rearranged in your own style and put out a record of those?'”

There’s a lot of trial and error in picking covers. Generally, Ruch’s guitar has to handle the vocal / melody line because Bellanti already is carrying a double load, playing the bass line on the keyboard with his left hand and the organ with his right hand.

Sometimes, the monotony of the melody doesn’t become obvious until the vocals are stripped away. And while the guys all are fans of Bob Dylan, it’s tough to take a song with a half dozen verses and create enough variety in the way each one is approached to keep it from becoming repetitious.

As for the name, the band members wanted something that emphasized the organ trio configuration, and their first choice was taken.

“Our first thought was actually Organ Freeman, after the actor, Morgan Freeman, only to find out that there’s a band in LA, an organ trio with that name already,” Ruch said. “Organ Fairchild was just the next one on the list. We all grew up, I think, being fairly fond of the actress, Morgan Fairchild, so that was sort of like our second choice, and it’s the one that stuck. ”

The band also got the stamp of approval from its namesake. The band’s electronic press kit includes a video of Fairchild congratulating the band on its 2021 album “Brewed in Buffalo” and telling them to let her know when the group comes to California because, “I’m going to see if I can come out and jam with you.”

As the band broadens its touring radius, that could happen. Since 2020 the band has played festivals and gigs with Goose, Trey Anastasio Band, Umphrey’s McGee, moe., the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and others.

Organ Fairchild has played throughout the Northeast, and Tuesday’s show at Westside Bowl is part of its third Midwest tour. A spring trip to Wyoming and Colorado is planned for 2025.

“It’s funny. You know, 20 years ago, when we were probably more able-bodied to be getting into a small minivan and lugging equipment around and all that stuff, none of us really were dying to,” Ruch said. “We were raising kids, and none of us wanted to be away from home for chunks of time.

“Now that all of us are in the same boat, where our kids are grown and mostly out of the house, we laugh about it all the time. Most of our friends who ever wanted to pursue something like this did it when they were 25 or 30. We’re all pushing 60, and we’re more excited about just getting out there. We’ll go as far as anybody wants us to play.”

If you go …

WHO: Organ Fairchild.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday.

WHERE: Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown.

HOW MUCH: $12 in advance through Eventbrite and $15 at the door.