A musician, journalist, PR man, and former radio broadcaster and sports play-by-play guy, David Tanklefsky has carved out a life of words and melody. He spent the first decade of his musical life playing guitar and saxophone in Boston-based folk/rock/jazz band Grimis, alongside his childhood friends, acclaimed guitarist Lyle Brewer, bassist Andy Doherty (Frances Cone), and drummer Pete Michelinie. The band toured the country and shared stages with bands like The Slip, Apollo Sunshine, Piebald, and Thao With the Get Down Stay Down.

The band made three full-length records and traveled to Kenya to produce and play on an album featuring children at the Margaret Okari Children’s School in the village of Kissi.

After college, Tanklefsky moved to Brooklyn where he made a solo EP and a full length album, “Be Brave,” and played guitar groups including early 2000s indie darling Emil & Friends and Craig Martinson and the Heartbeats. He returned to the Boston area in the early 2010s and hosted a popular songwriting residency with other artists at the Somerville Armory Café.

Throughout his time in the Treaty, Tanklefsky has continued to work on other musical projects, playing guitar with Massachusetts songwriter Hayley Sabella and in his former Treaty bandmate Billy Keane’s solo project, Billy Keane and the Waking Dream. In 2023, Tanklefsky and his wife released an EP “Quiet Songs.” He is currently working with Brewer on an album of solo guitar compositions due out in 2026. Tanklefsky and his wife also perform traditional Irish music with her family. They live with their two sons outside of Boston.