Genres Country | Years active 2008-present | |
Origin Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA Labels Feather Moon/Rocket Club Associated acts Mark Lacek, Matt Kirkwold Members Chris Hawkey
Luke Kramer
Brian Kroening
Joel Sayles
Don Smithmier
Billy Thommes | ||
Rocket Club is an American country music band composed of Joel Sayles (bass, vocals), Brian Kroening (guitars), Don Smithmier (vocals, keyboards), Chris Hawkey (vocals), Luke Kramer (guitars), and Billy Thommes (drums).
Contents
History
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. "One More Day" debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week of November 21, 2009.
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. An album of the same name was released in 2012.
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.
Other work
Smithmier is a Minnesota tech entrepreneur.