Northlake Days hosts concert by former guitar player for Phil Collins, Genesis

Daryl Stuermer, former guitar player for Phil Collins and Genesis, is performing at 9:30 p.m. June 22 at Northlake Days. | photo courtesy of Daryl Stuermer

Updated: July 23, 2012 6:21AM

There certainly will be some authenticity in the air at Northlake Days June 22 when some of the well-known hits of Phil Collins and his multi-platinum band Genesis fill the ears of listeners.

Collins won’t be in Northlake to entertain, but the longtime guitar player for both Genesis and Collins’ solo hits, Daryl Stuermer, will take the stage at 9:30 p.m.

Stuermer, a Milwaukee native, has a long history with both Genesis and Collins. After being introduced to the nation in 1975 while touring and subsequently recording three albums with jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, Stuermer hooked up with Genesis in 1978.

It’s Stuermer’s guitar that is heard on the likes of the huge Collins hits “In the Air Tonight” and “Easy Lover.” And Stuermer was a co-writer with Collins of the 1989 Grammy Award Winning hit single “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven.”

While his ventures with Genesis and Collins usually meant playing stadiums and arenas with up to more than 50,000 people in the audience, Stuermer said he very much is looking forward to the Northlake Days show.

“It’s kind of like going back to the blue collar world, and I have no complaints about it,” Stuermer said.

“I grew up playing smaller shows in smaller venues, and it all comes back to me. As a musician, I enjoy every experience. And because it’s a smaller audience, it’s more intimate. I never talked to the audience during shows with Genesis or Phil Collins, but I do get to do that now, and we have great energy at our shows.”

Stuermer said many of the people who come to his shows now are there out of curiosity — they want to see and hear the man who was a regular with Collins and Genesis for so many years.

“A lot of people do come to see me out of curiosity, and I’m grateful that they want to do it,” he said. “I usually come out for a meet-and-greet after we play, and it’s always nice having a chance to meet and talk to people.”

Stuermer, who is touring as part of his own five-piece band, will give the Northlake audience a taste of his own material — he has recorded eight solo albums. But some of the hits made famous by Collins and Genesis also will be on the set list.

Among the hit songs usually part of Stuermer’s shows are “In the Air Tonight,” “Misunderstanding,” “Land of Confusion,” “Turn It On Again,” No Son of Mine,” “Invisible Touch,” and “I Can’t Dance.”

“I love to play the Genesis music,” he said. “I never actually played guitar on some of those songs with Genesis because I went back and forth between guitar and playing bass. What we’re doing now isn’t the Genesis experience exactly, but we definitely play some of the songs, and we love doing it.”

Stuermer said the audience at Northlake Days could expect a mix of instrumental and vocal material. He calls his original material a “combination of jazz, fusion and pop.”

“I really have a great band, and it seems to work,” he said.

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