Feathermerchants consists of (left to right): lead singer Shannon Kennedy; drummer Jon Peckman, a well-known Connecticut musician; Peter Veru ’85, founder and principal songwriter; and producer and lead guitarist Jim Chapdelaine, a veteran of the Hartford music scene who teaches digital recording at The Hartt School.

After making an unlikely transition from Wall Street bond trader to songwriter and rock musician, Peter Veru '85 is about to take the next step in his evolution as an artist.

Veru and his eclectic modern rock band, Feathermerchants, are preparing to release their second album in the late spring. Their first CD, released three years ago, earned critical acclaim and brought the band a loyal following. But Veru describes the forthcoming album as "head and shoulders above the first," and he is hoping that the new release will catapult the band onto the national music scene.

"This record is a major step forward for us," Veru said. "It should put us on the modern rock radar screen."

Veru is a graduate of the Barney School of Business and a member of the University's Board of Regents. In his 20s and 30s, he enjoyed a lucrative, pressure-packed career in the high-stakes field of high-yield bond trading and sales-in fact, he was so successful that he was able to retire in 2001 at the age of 39.

While working on Wall Street, Veru learned to play the guitar. With his trademark intensity and drive, he threw himself into his lifelong dream of becoming a musician, and Feathermerchants was born.

The band's first CD, titled Feathermerchants, consisted of "the first 11 songs I had ever written," Veru said. The second album, which is as yet untitled, is a much more mature effort that will demonstrate how Veru and the band have grown since those early days, he said.

Perhaps most significant is the fact that two songs on the new CD will feature Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, a sign of Feathermerchants' growing stature in the music industry. Veru sent Leavell some of the band's work, and Leavell liked what he heard. Leavell recorded keyboard tracks for the new CD at his studio in Macon, Ga.