Daryl Stuermer “rewires” Genesis classics for Gathering on the Green

For most musicians, hitting the big time means leaving home. For Daryl Stuermer, longtime touring guitarist and bassist for Genesis and Phil Collins, it meant coming back — a return to Milwaukee, the city he’d been born and raised in.

Stuermer says the reasoning was simple: While he may have gotten hired by Genesis while he was living in California, the itinerant nature of that job meant he could really live anywhere when he wasn’t on the road. Given the option, Stuermer chose to go back where the heart was.

“My music scene was just touring,” Stuermer says, “… and Milwaukee was a nice place to come back home to.”

Years later, Stuermer’s routine remains mostly the same, although the tours are now solo and the return is now to Whitefish Bay. Recently, though, one of those tour destinations has been Mequon’sGathering at the Green, where Stuermer will be performing Friday for the second year in a row.

Stuermer says he enjoyed the festival last year, especially due to the acoustic benefits of its outdoor venue. He got a great vibe from the audience, many of whom rushed up to the stage at the end of his set.

He attributes much of this to the nature of his current project, Genesis Rewired, which he describes as “about 70 percent Genesis, 30 percent solo … (although) my music stays within the Genesis vein.”

Genesis is known for such pop songs as “Invisible Touch” and “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” the band’s albums also include a number of progressive rock and jazz fusion works. Stuermer weaves some of them into the fabric of his live set in order to please Genesis devotees and emphasize his and the band’s versatility and virtuosity.

“The real Genesis fan is going to know that…it shows off the instruments, and it shows off the performers,” Stuermer says.

While Stuermer’s style will remain the same since his last time at Gathering on the Green, he says the execution is different enough that it’ll be a totally new show. Last year he brought a vocalist who “looked and sounded like Phil Collins.” This year’s vocalist, Forrest “Woody” Mankowski, is more shades of Steve Winwood.

In addition, he’ll be joined by guest vocalist Amy Keys, another artist from Phil Collins’ touring crew. Stuermer says he was incredibly pleased to get her and says her presence will allow him to put a different spin on some of his other pieces.

Yet Stuermer doesn’t expect the new faces on stage to draw much of a different audience. He says his repertoire has a distinct advantage over many others from Genesis’ time period: “(It’s) never going to be ‘in’ — but it’s never going to be ‘out’ either.”

Daryl Stuermer will be the Friday headliner at Mequon’s Gathering on the Green, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for lawn seats and $40 for preferred seating, and can be purchased at the Gathering on the Green website or at (262) 236-0510. The festival continues through Saturday, with Dionne Warwick headlining the second night at 7 p.m. Two-day passes can be purchased as well; lawn seats are $35 while preferred seating is $70.