Bronze Radio Return

Bronze Radio Return is an American indie/roots rock sextet from Hartford, Connecticut. The band was formed by singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Henderson after he attended the Hartt School of Music.^[3] Fellow Hartt School Alumni Rob Griffith (drums), Bob Tanen (bass) and Matt Warner (organ/keyboards/samples) help complete the line-up with Patrick (Packy) Fetkowitz (Lead Guitar) and Craig Struble (Harmonica, Banjo). The name Bronze Radio Return was inspired by an old radio Henderson grew up listening to in his fathers art studio in Maine. Each of the band members are greatly influenced by the music they grew up listening to. "As a result, [the band] decided [they] wanted to pay a certain homage to their influences with the music that [they] would make together...the return of the bronze radio."^[4]

Producer, Doug Derryberry (Bruce Hornsby, Ben Folds Five) discovered Bronze Radio Return at a NYC show and produced their first self-titled EP in 2008. In 2009 the Northeastern band’s collaboration with Midwestern producer/multi-instrumentalist Chad Copelin brought them to a Southern studio in Nashville and resulted in the creation of a ten-song album Old-Time Speaker.^[5] Songs from Old Time Speaker were licensed by Hollister Co. (Digital Love - Labor Day Playlist 2009^[6]) and the new CW Series 90210 (Lo-Fi on Season 3:305 Catch Me if You Cannon^[7]). The album also charted in the College Music Journal (CMJ) Top 200 where it peaked at No. 102 charted in the top 10 and even reached No. 1 for weeks on several stations. In the Oklahoma City Audition episode of American Idol 2013, "Worth Wondering" (from Old Time Speaker) was used during the pre-audition back-story for contestant Nate Tao.

On its sophomore full-length recording, the Hartford, CT, based Bronze Radio Return (BRR) continued to define its sound. Shake! Shake! Shake! found the band continuing to move beyond the roots rock leanings of its debut EP.^[8] SHAKE!SHAKE!SHAKE! reunited Bronze Radio Return with Chad Copelin as producer and was recorded in Norman and Tulsa Oklahoma. Since its release on March 29, 2011 SHAKE!SHAKE!SHAKE! debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard NE Heatseakers Chart^[9] made the College Music Journal (CMJ) Top 200 List where it peaked at No. 129 and has been licensed by American Eagle^[10] Hollister,^[11] Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel show The Layover (Season 1, Six Episodes), HBO's 24/7 Flyers/Rangers Road to the NHL Winter Classic,^[12] CW's Hart of Dixie (Season 1-116:Tributes and Triangles)^[13] and Polo Ralph Lauren. Bronze Radio Return has also had their song "Shake,Shake,Shake" used in two 2012 American Idol episodes,^[14][15] once again in a 2013 American Idol episode and on a nationally placed Behr Paint/Home Depot commercial.

The group returned to the East Coast, again with Copelin, for their third long-player, 2013's Up, On & Over.^[16] The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, landed in the Top 30 on the iTunes Alternative chart and Top 130 overall. Google Play, Slacker Radio and Amazon all featured the lead single "Further On". The record was also featured as a part of the Pandora Premieres series the week before its release.^[17]

The band signed a publishing deal with Round Hill Music in 2014.

Nissan featured "Shake, Shake, Shake" for their new global Nissan Leaf campaign which began in the Fall of 2012.^[18] The PGA Tour and FedEx used a previously unreleased song "Further On" for their 2013 FedEx Cup commercial "Born for This." The PGA commercial was also featured by ESPN.^[19] Recently, their single "Further On" was featured in the trailer for Bill Murray movie, St. Vincent.^[20]

Pandora Internet Radio featured Bronze Radio Return in their first ever "Indie Artist Spotlight" Blog where they noted that the band "attributed a large part of their [independent] success to being on Pandora"; being played on countless larger stations including: Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, and Blind Pilot.^[21]

Bronze Radio Return was named one of Taco Bell's 2012 Feed the Beat Artists, along such names as: The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, and Civil Twilight.^[22]

Along with full national tours across the USA, Bronze Radio Return has performed music festivals including: Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Firefly, Hangout Music Festival, Bunbury, SXSW, Mountain Jam,^[23] Gathering of the Vibes,^[24] Summerfest,^[25] Floydfest 2013, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival, The Rock Boat (3x), Cayamo and Musikfest.^[26] Acts Bronze Radio Return have opened for include Grace Potter, John Mayer, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Pete Francis (of Dispatch), Blues Traveler, Buddy Guy, Dennis DeYoung, Nikka Costa, Sugar Ray, Ed Kowalczyk (of Live) and more. They even performed for President Obama in October (2010) at a rally in Bridgeport, CT.^[27]

Discography

• Bronze Radio Return EP (2008)
• Old Time Speaker (2009)
• Shake! Shake! Shake! (2011)
• Up, On & Over (2013)

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bronze Radio Return

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bronze Radio Return.

• Official website
• Bronze Radio Return on Myspace
• Bronze Radio Return Facebook