The World Had Other Plans for Darryl Tonemah
Darryl Tonemah is always thinking one step ahead; sometimes more. But even the songwriter’s most concrete musical plans couldn’t stand up to a world-altering pandemic.
With his latest studio album, Cardinal, on the horizon, Darryl shared with me how he kept his eyes and ears open to the world around him while writing, letting the songs continue to flow, albeit differently than expected.
“I usually plan about three records out,” he says.
(L-R: Evan Anstey, Kris Brayley and Darryl Tonemah performing at Buffalo Riverworks in April 2023)
Back in the spring of 2019, the Americana troubadour was preparing for the release of Red Dirt Remarks, his newest album at the time. I was a new addition to his live band, and that May, we were set take the stage together for the first time at Buffalo’s Sportsmen’s Tavern – a popular folk, country and rock venue in the city’s Black Rock neighborhood.
The show was a success, and so were those that followed that summer. Within a year of Red Dirt Remarks, Darryl, always ready with a new song, decided it was time to get back in the studio. This time, he wanted to work closer to home.
When we got there, it was winter. The coronavirus pandemic was still very new and making frightening waves, but we didn’t know just how bad it was going to be. We learned in the coming months.
Changing The Tone
The album in the works was going to be called The Black Rock Sessions. But only three tracks in, with society shutting down, something needed to change.
“The songs weren’t fitting together,” he says.
One of the songs that was recorded in that time, an altered cover of Todd Snider’s “This Land Is Our Land,” did remain on the final product — what eventually became Cardinal — but the other two, upbeat tunes about life on Native reservations, just didn’t fit the tone anymore. COVID had become Darryl’s musical impetus.
This shift in the album’s mood was accompanied by a lighter production. Darryl pivoted to a mostly acoustic soundscape, favoring fewer instruments and a somber tone compared to the energetic country-rock of its predecessor.
But even though the production was simplified, Cardinal was, by no means, easy to make. The world was adjusting to life plagued by a devastating virus, and for Darryl, there was a lot of pain at home, too, as the songwriter lost both his father and sister in the time the album was recorded. Embracing music, Darryl sought to turn the grief, the uncertainty, and the reality of now, into something healing.
The Many Miles Traveled
In a way, Cardinal is a reflection of Darryl’s work outside music. Besides being a talented singer, guitarist and Native flautist, he also makes a living as Dr. Tonemah – a psychologist specializing in trauma and community counseling.
Splitting his home life between Western New York and Phoenix, Arizona, Darryl travels to indigenous communities across the country as a sought-after public speaker. Along the way, he’s made a lot of friends, musical and non-musical alike. One of those is Pete Wasner, who plays piano for country superstar Vince Gill. The two met in Nashville about two decades ago.
Wasner, who’s also co-written with Gill, lent his talents to Cardinal’s “Moon,” transforming it into the song Darryl says, musically, is his favorite. Another favorite is “Teardrops and Tire Tracks.” It was songs like these that Darryl says fell into his lap.
“And then it got harder to write like that,” Darryl said. “I thought, ‘Huh, I must be starting to feel better, or I’m coming out of this.’ It was almost like I was forcing myself to write a somber song.”
Darryl had found a light at the end of the tunnel. Finishing the album’s narrative, he penned “Unity,” an uplifting note to close it all out.
Coming Together
While he’s writing, Darryl says he likes to picture a scene in his head, where he’s the composer of that scene’s soundtrack. He does have a history as a stage and screen actor, after all. “90 percent” of the time, Darryl says he prefers using figurative language rather than literal descriptions you’d find in, for example, Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” This allows him to leave the lyrics up to interpretation.
He’s selective about what he takes in, too, wanting the music he consumes to be reflected in what he writes, whether that’s Jason Isbell, Bruce Springsteen or whoever serves as the best muse at the time.
Darryl’s albums, which are released just under the name “Tonemah,” date back to the early nineties, and typically, they’re recorded in “a burst of energy over five days in one place” in locations like Nashville, Tennessee. Even before COVID altered his plans, Darryl knew the pacing of his next album was going to be much slower, with recording set to take place on a monthly basis and singles expected to be released at about the same pace leading up to the album’s release – a growing trend by artists in an age of streaming.
To put it in perspective, The Black Rock Sessions, which found its first recorded notes in early 2020, was set to be released as an album in November 2021. Cardinal, from beginning to end, took about four years.
Did going from five-day bursts to the time it takes to start and finish high school test Darryl’s patience? No, but he was anxious to hear the final result. His wife, Carminda, kept reminding him though, that there’s no rush. So, as he continued to write and record simultaneously, it remained an enjoyable process. Laughing about it now, Darryl says he should have about 52 new songs at this point, but ended up with nine.
Getting By With a Little Help
Post-Cardinal, we’re bound to see the fruits of The Black Rock Sessions at some point, but who’s to say it won’t take on a whole new name by then? One thing Darryl doesn’t plan to change from album to album is the supporting musicians, most of whom are part of his live band.
Evan Anstey (violin) and Darryl Tonemah (guitar) performing at Buffalo Riverworks in April 2023
Photo by Raymond Lonsdale
“My favorite thing is when people say to me ‘You guys really seem to like each other.’ We’re not up there like Oasis,” Darryl says.
After making music for roughly three decades, Darryl says the current iteration of the band is his favorite, noting both the musicianship and camaraderie found in his colleagues.
“I go to a concert to see what the connection is,” Darryl says.
Darryl’s brother LP Tonemah and drummer Kris Brayley are two of those musical partners. They’ve been keeping things percussive and harmonious behind him for more than two decades. For the past five years, the band has also included myself on violin and mandolin, as well as bassist Ernie Palmer, or as Darryl calls him, “The Chief” — a nickname which stems from Palmer’s decades in law enforcement.
Recent years have also included the electric guitar presence of Celtic connoisseur Tom Keefer, blues-rocker Tony Tripi and on occasion, Tonemah manager Ray Barry. I owe it to Tom for bringing me into the band. The musical family tree has extended, too, with Darryl’s daughter Grace joining the mix on acoustic guitar in 2022.
The live band is a big focus for Darryl, who’s already thinking about Cardinal’s sequel. He wants that album to “feel as live as possible.”
Given Cardinal’s stripped-down sound, the window to hear those songs in person may be limited, but like a chapter in a book, they capture a significant time in Tonemah’s history.
Cardinal is expected to hit streaming services in April, and this summer, the band is planning to support it with performances in Rochester, Lewiston and maybe even beyond the borders of New York as the year goes on. Who’s to say Tonemah won’t already be recording another album by then, too? After all, Darryl’s always thinking one step ahead, and sometimes more.
