Greetings everyone! This is Eric Henry Andersen and welcome to another episode of Conversations for Convergence—a curious podcast, exploring myriad topics including music and the arts, athletics, high performance, and creativity in all sorts of forms.
Today’s guest is Daryl Stuermer. Daryl has had quite an impressive career which began in Milwaukee in the mid 70s when pianist George Duke of Frank Zappa’s band recommended him for an audition with jazz-violin legend Jean-Luc Ponty. That opportunity led to a European tour and four influential albums, quickly establishing Daryl as a world-class guitarist. In 1977, Daryl landed an audition to replace Steve Hackett as Genesis’s touring lead guitarist, beginning a remarkable 30-year run performing with the band on every world tour culminating in the final Genesis show at the O2 Arena in London in March of 2022.
When Phil Collins launched his solo career in 1980, Daryl became a foundational part of that band—and he’s actually the only member who’s been with Phil since the very beginning. His signature guitar work defined the sound of many of Phil’s classics like “In the Air Tonight,” and “Easy Lover,” and he even co-wrote the Grammy-nominated hit “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven.” In addition to Genesis and Phil Collins, his session credits include Jean-Luc Ponty, ABBA’s Frida, Philip Bailey, George Duke, Eric Henry Andersen (that’s right) and many others. He’s performed on literally some of the biggest shows in history, including a Genesis concert for 500,000 people in Rome in 2007, he’s played the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, the Grammys, and every chapter of The Tonight Show from the Johnny Carson era, to Leno, and most recently Jimmy Fallon. He’s also released a handful of jazz/rock fusion solo albums through his own label, Urban Island Music.
This episode was particularly special for me—having known Daryl for over fifteen years and having had the incredible privilege of performing with him—both in his band, and with him playing guitar in mine—as well as on a variety of recording projects.
We covered a lot of ground in this episode: how Daryl first got into music, his early years teaching guitar lessons and performing five nights a week on the Milwaukee club scene, landing his first major gigs with Jean-Luc Ponty, Gino Vannelli, and ultimately Genesis, being one of the first people on the planet to hear the demo of “In the Air Tonight,” stories from Genesis and Phil Collins tours, working and recording with Phil Collins, and lots of other gems. I had an awesome time talking with Daryl today, and I’m quite sure you guys are gonna enjoy this conversation as well.
Thanks for listening to this episode of “Conversations for Convergence.” If you'd like to support the show or any of my musical endeavors, the best way is by joining my Patreon, at patreon.com/erichenryandersen. And of course, sharing the episodes with friends and family and rating and reviewing the show wherever you listen to podcasts, helps immensely. For all other things Eric Henry Andersen, be sure to sign up for my mailing list at erichenryandersen.com (that's Andersen ending in SEN). You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, @erichenryandersen, and on X, @EHAndersenmusic. Thanks for listening!
Show Notes
https://darylstuermer.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DarylStuermer/
Vertex Effects Podcast/Interview where Daryl talks about and performs many of his iconic guitar parts to Phil Collins’ music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDEmUiN5k0
Episode editing and production by Mack Johnson
Conversations for Convergence theme music is an instrumental version of "Heartbeat to Heartbeat, Eye to Eye (From Reno with Love)" which can be found anywhere you stream music.
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