Bronze Radio Return Brings East Coast Roots Soul on Tour (INTERVIEW/VIDEO EXCLUSIVE)

Bronze Radio Return have just kicked off their U.S. tour in support of their acclaimed new album Light Me Up. The Connecticut based band’s tour includes stops in , Austin, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles (tour dates below).  The roots rockers offer a sound pretty much foreign to bands originating out of the New England area with a breezy mellow soul usually likened to west coast bands like Ben Harper or Augustana. Bronze Radio Return has sold 100,000 singles to date, have amassed nearly 30 million Spotify/YouTube streams and have notched more than 100 high-profile placements ranging from the 2014 film St. Vincent, to commercials for Nissan, Coca-Cola and Starbucks, to numerous television shows. 

With the band in the midst of its big U.S. zig zag we had a chance to talk to the band and share an exclusive EPK (below) of what makes Bronze Radio Return such an impact impressioning sound on the live circuit..

Tour Dates

March 2 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
March 3 Austin, TX @ The Parish
March 4 San Antonio, TX @ 502 Bar
March 6 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
March 7 Salt Lake City, UT @ State Room
March 9 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
March 10 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
March 12 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
March 13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
March 14 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

Bronze Radio Return has quite a tour coming up. It always seemed you guys sounded more west coast than east- has a tour like this been a long time coming and what cities and venues are you most looking forward to visiting?

Traveling around the country is definitely a perk of the job! We’re fortunate enough to get to frequently hang in cool cities across the country. Some of my stand outs are: Chicago, Austin, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. I’ve found that what makes my favorite cities so enjoyable are often the people we meet and keep in touch with over the years. It’s fun going back and seeing familiar faces.

When you visit cities you haven’t played in yet or where people might not be as familiar with your music- how does the band gear up that type of show where you might not know what to expect upon hitting the state? 

Those kind of shows can be really fun because the unknown is exciting. We keep our expectations in check and know that the worst that could happen is that no one shows up and we get to play music we enjoy playing with people we love playing with every night. I don’t think we necessarily tailor our sets to a new market, but sometimes we will feel a room out as we go—maybe switch up an upbeat tune for a softer song if the crowd seems more chill. Nights in new markets keep us on our toes!

How have your live shows changed or matured in the past few years?  What would we experience and feel at a show now that we might not have a few years ago?  What are you guys doing more confidently?

The years of playing shows on the road have definitely conditioned us to perform better every time. I think a live show is all about connecting with an audience. From night to night we learn better ways to connect. One way to do that is to give a good flow to a set list by mixing up tunes and keeping it interesting for 90 minutes. A good show is comprised of a lot of little things: how a band gets from song to song, dynamics, tightness and (most of all) energy. I believe we do an honest job of bringing energy to a stage every night.

As music fans, what concert experiences of your own do you most remember from your past and try to incorporate facets of that showmanship or musicianship into the Bronze Radio Return presentation?

When I go to a show I want a different experience than listening to the recorded material. It’s cool when bands play exact album versions, but I want to leave feeling like I experienced something that I couldn’t find from just listening to the records. Over the years we’ve seen so many great bands offer this kind of element to their shows—Eric Clapton, The Avett Brothers, Delta Spirit, Beck, etc. All of these performers put on a show, and they all bring infectious energy to the stage.

The new album Light Me Up was recorded in El Paso.  Being in the southwest for that process was there any type of “spice” that caught onto your songs that might not have happened anywhere else? If so, what songs are they?

Recording in that part of the country was awesome, unique and exciting. I can’t put my finger on any direct influence from the surroundings, rather I think we were influenced by being in a new environment. For all the albums we’ve made, we’ve gone to a new location that allowed us separation from our normal routines. Being out of my comfort zone gives me a certain alertness that helps in the creative process.

Where else did you consider recording and how does the band locate or scout the locations and make the decision? 

We work with producer Chad Copelin, and he’s worked at the studio in El Paso in the past. From what he told us about it, it sounded like a perfect fit. We looked at several other studios around the country— a swampy region of Louisiana, a mountainous part of California, and a cool small town studio in North Carolina. I’m sure all of them would have been awesome, but we have no regrets on where we ended up making this album. 

Bronze Radio Return holds a very unique sound that is truly your own but sounds inviting and offers a sense of belonging and acceptance. When you pool your influences musically and lyrically together – what gives it the Bronze Radio Return stamp of sound would you say?

We are the sum of all of our parts. Bronze Radio Return is a team sport, and we all play our roles. With six guys in the band, we all come from different musical backgrounds. A couple of the guys studied Jazz in college. A couple of the guys come from a Blues and Rock background. Collectively, we all bond over folk, bluegrass, and (for a lack of a better term) indie rock. I think our sound comes from all of these influences and not being afraid of having to be one thing.

Your music has been able to be exposed to more people through other forms of media like PGA tour, film, Nissan commercials. Why do you think you have had such success getting your songs placed through these mediums and then continually getting these opportunities?

We’ve been super lucky to have our music placed in movies, TV shows and commercials. It’s a great vehicle to have our music heard by a bunch of people who aren’t familiar with us. A big part of getting these opportunities have come from working with some really great teams of people that are passionate about getting our music placed. I think the general up beat nature of our music lends itself well to a variety of good fits in the film and TV worlds.

You’ve had the privilege of opening for Grace Potter, John Mayer and Michael Franti – what have you taken from those experiences and what have been some of your most memorable gigs so far

It’s really fun being a part of bigger production shows. Opening for bigger national acts allows us to get in front of new music listeners and gives us the chance to win crowds over. I feel like most people at these kinds of shows are obviously there to see the headliner and for me, that makes it feel like less pressure. Just go out and play and have fun. Some of my most memorable shows have come from our summer festival experiences. Not only is the energy so great, but we get to see all these bands we look up to and admire.

You guys met at University of Hartford – do you still consider Connecticut home and if you were to have a homecoming gig there- where would be and why?

Connecticut definitely feels like home to me! For one reason or another we hardly play in our home town. Two of the guys live in New York and over the years we’ve migrated to playing NYC more frequently than CT. If we were to have a homecoming show in Hartford I think it would have to be at a place called Black Eyed Sally’s. We’ve played some of our favorite Hartford shows at that place and it’s been a while since we’ve been back.