Bronze Radio Return is, from left, Robert Tanen, Matthew Warner, Craig Struble, Chris Henderson, Robert Griffith and Patrick Fetkowitz.When it comes to finding members for your band, being able to recruit from your classmates at a musical conservatory is a bit like mining for diamonds at Tiffany & Co.
After years spent playing hobbyist bands that lacked seriousness and ambition, vocalist Chris Henderson and guitarist Patrick Fetkowitz decided in 2008 that the time had come to start a project with more long-term potential.
To help round out their roots-rock sextet, Bronze Radio Return, the pair looked to their fellow alumni of The Hartt School, a performing-arts offshoot of the University of Hartford in Connecticut.
IF YOU GO¦ What: Nightfall concert series featuring Bronze Radio Return.¦ When: 8 p.m. Friday, July 11; The Iscariots open at 7.¦ Where: Miller Plaza, 850 Market St.¦ Admission: Free.¦ Phone: 423-265-0771.¦ Venue website: www.nightfall chattanooga.com.¦ Artist website: www.bronzeradioreturn.com.
“One of the things that I learned a lot from is the rather competitive nature that comes with being in a musical conservatory,” Henderson says. “Not ‘competitive’ in the sense that we’re slashing each other’s tires, but … there’s this constant motion and progress at the school from everyone getting better and feeding off each other. That’s one of the things that works well with our band.”