Rocket Club is an American country music band composed of Brian Kroening (guitars), Joel Sayles (bass, vocals), Don Smithmier (vocals, keyboards), Chris Hawkey (vocals), Luke Kramer (guitars), and Billy Thommes (drums).[1] Smithmier is also a notable Minnesota tech entrepreneur [2] and Hawkey is also a radio personality on Minneapolis radio station KFAN.[2]
The band's first national single, "One More Day," was written by Joel Sayles, Don Smithmier, and Twin Cities native Mark Lacek after Lacek's daughter died in the womb. The song got viral exposure via Facebook and YouTube, as well as airplay on Minneapolis radio station KEEY-FM. It is also included on a multi-artist album entitled Hope Rocks Volume II, the benefits of which go to a nonprofit organization that Mark and his wife, Susan, founded.[3] "One More Day" debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week of November 21, 2009.[4]
The band's second single, "One Thing Beautiful," written by Joel Sayles and Don Smithmier, spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts beginning July 12, 2010.
Rocket Club's debut self-titled CD was released in 2008. Their second record, American Serenade, was released in October 2010.
In 2010, the band coined the term "North Country" to describe its more guitar oriented, decidedly non-Southern form of country music. They later turned the concept into a northern anthem with the release of their 3rd single, "North Country," which debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs on June 14, 2011.
The band released its fourth studio album on March 13, 2014, titled "Lucky" and produced by Joel Sayles. The album was named after the project that created it. In 2013, the band completed a project dubbed "Lucky 13" in which it wrote, recorded and released one new song each month for a year. [5]
Discography[]
Albums[]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Rocket Club |
|
| American Serenade |
|
| North Country |
|
| Lucky |
|
Singles[]
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | |||
| 2009 | "One More Day" | 49 | American Serenade |
| 2010 | "One Thing Beautiful" | 51 | |
| 2011 | "North Country" | 52 | North Country |
References[]
- ↑ Biography. Rocket Club official website. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dan Emerson (2001-10-01). Smithmier and His Start Ups. Minnesota Business Magazine. Retrieved on March 16, 2014. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "success" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Molly Guthrey Millett (2009-10-09). Father's ode to stillborn daughter now a song to comfort the grieving. TwinCities.com. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ↑ Edward Morris (2009-11-14). Carrie Underwood Has the Week's Top Album and Song. CMT. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
- ↑ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Retrieved on March 14, 2014.