Draft:American Nomads

American Nomads is an American roots rock band formed in 2015 and based around Brooklyn, New York. Its founding members are Walter Kenul, Richard Humann, and Dante DeLemos. The current lineup is Walter Kenul (vocals, keyboards, accordion), Susan Darmiento (lead vocals, background vocals), Joseph Humann (harmonica, percussion), Tony DePiano (lead guitar, rhythm guitar), Joe Conoscenti (drums), Jay Rivera (bass, background vocals), and Andrew Friedman (pedal steel). The conceptual artist Richard Humann is a lyricist.

The band has released four studio albums to date: American Nomads (2015), Ghost Highway (2018), Hats Cleaned (2024), and Utopia Sessions (2026).

The band formed when Kenul, Darmiento, and Humann were travelling in Croatia.^[1] Their practice space and recording studio is the former headquarters of Fire Department Engine Company 38 in Greenpoint, New York, whose renovated location also used to host Firehouse Productions, a live music production company, that worked with such bands as Tears for Fears, The Cure, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, and The Talking Heads.^[2]

Kenul's earlier band, Metropolis, featured guitarist Jose Damien, and also had future Nomads' Susan Darmiento and Joe Conoscenti.^[1]

The band's first major success was their 2016 single, "A Revelation's Gonna Come", which received over 40,000 radio plays and reached #6 on the Billboard AC chart. The single, produced by Joe Vulpis and mastered by Tom Coyne (music engineer), of Sterling Sound, also passed the first round of nominations for the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Single.^{[3] [4] [5]}

American Nomads then released their debut album, American Nomads, in 2016. Recorded at Harlem Parlour Recording, the album received additional mixing from Stewart Lerman along with fiddle and pedal steel performances by David Mansfield.

Their third album, Hats Cleaned (2024), was produced by Joe Vitale (musician), famous for his work with The Young-Stills Band, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Walsh, and The Eagles, all major influences on the American Nomads' own sound. 2026 saw the release of their fourth studio album, Utopia Sessions, where the band united with Grammy-winning producer, Neil Dorfsman, at Utopia Studios in Bearsville, Woodstock, New York, site of the former Bearsville Studios, and Todd Rundgren's Utopia video studio.

The band's name is a reference to Depression-era hobos. The altered Buffalo nickel of 1913, commonly known as the Hobo nickel, was used by impoverished American travelers as an ersatz sculptural art, and is the cover art for the band’s debut album, where the inscription "1929" in its lower-left corner references the Wall Street crash of 1929. Darmiento sees the band’s name as a comment on the American wanderer, one that links the contemporary traveling musician with the Beat Generation and Depression-era hobos.^[6]

Their music has been described as roots rock along a spectrum of Americana, Tex-Mex, and country rock. They have also been compared to The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.^{[7] [3]} The members have said they are influenced by Bob Dylan, The Eagles, The Band, Eric Clapton,^[7] and Darmiento has referred to singers like Patsy Cline, Karen Carpenter, Stevie Nicks, Ann Wilson, Aretha Franklin, and Sarah McLachlan as inspirations.^[8]

Current members

• Walter Kenul – lead vocals, backing vocals, accordion, piano, Hammond b3, keyboards
• Susan Darmiento – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Joseph Humann – harmonica, percussion, Zydeco washboard
• Tony DePiano – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
• Jay Rivera – bass, backing vocals
• Joseph Conoscenti – drums
• Andrew Friedman – pedal steel
• Richard Humann – lyrics

Former members

• Dante DeLemos – lead guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar
• George LaGrange – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Matt Schneider – lead vocals, backing vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar
• Cody Myers – guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals
• Willie Colon – bass, backing vocals
• Gerald Menke – pedal steel

Guest Musicians

• Sammy Merendino – drums
• David Mansfield – fiddle, pedal steel
• Amanda Homi – backing vocals
• Steve Count – bass
• Tabitha Fair - backing vocals
• Alex Alexander - percussion
• Lorenza Ponce - violin