Christopher Allen Hawkey (born December 25, 1970) is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist who is a member of the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

band

Rocket Club Rocket Club is an American country music band composed of Joel Sayles (bass, vocals), Brian Kroening (guitars), Don Smithmier (vocals, keyboards), Chris Hawkey (vocals), Matt Kirkwold (guitars), and Walter Powell (drums). History The band's firs ...

and is the vocalist of the Chris Hawkey Band. He lives in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

and also produces and co-hosts a sports radio morning show, ''Power Trip Morning Show''.

Personal life and radio

Chris Hawkey was born a twin whose brother didn't survive their birth and raised in Union City, Indiana, where he graduated from

Mississinawa Valley High School Mississinawa Valley High School is a public high school in Union City, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Mississinawa Valley Schools district. Notable alumni *Curtis Enis - former running back for the Chicago Bears and Clopay employee. *Chr ...

. Starting in 1989 he attended a broadcasting school in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, pursuing careers in both radio and music. He got a job running a control board for the syndicated ''Howard Stern Show'' before getting hired in 2001 to co-host and produce the ''Power Trip Morning Show'' on KFAN Radio, a sports radio network. Hawkey produces the radio broadcast of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and is a

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer for AMSOIL Championship Snocross on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

Musical career

In 2001 Hawkey recorded his first solo project, "Minutes to Memories", which showcased his songwriting. He had a second solo project, "The Pursuit", which was a benefit partnership that raised money from record sales.

RYZ

Ryz was a rock band that performed mostly in the Los Angeles area in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Chris Hawkey was the lead singer of the band. They recorded such songs as "The Distance", "Wicked Ways", "Waiting and Watching", and "Wild Ones" Ryz ultimately broke up when offered the opportunity to go on tour opening for Gorky Park. Hawkey thought it was a great opportunity but other members did not want to leave their day jobs, so they went their separate directions.

Rocket Club

In 2008, Hawkey became the lead vocalist of

, a

band, and stayed with the group for six years. As a part of Rocket Club, he has shared the stage with such artists as

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall (vo ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

, and

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...

. In 2022, the band reunited and has started recording new music.

Chris Hawkey Band

In 2014, Hawkey released his first solo country record. The 8-song collection included the hit single "My Kinda Crazy." In 2016 he released another album, ''Smile'', which included the song "Good Liar" by

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

. The Chris Hawkey Band includes

Ryan Liestman The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...

(keyboard) and

Michael Bland Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years. From 1995 to 1997, ...

(drummer).

Twin Cities Music Festival

In 2019, Hawkey helped organize and performed at the

Twin Cities Summer Jam Twin Cities Summer Jam was a music festival in Shakopee, Minnesota that took place each year in July at Canterbury Park. Twin Cities Summer Jam was founded in 2018 as the first multi-day, multi-genre music festival in the Twin Cities, MN metr ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkey, Chris People from Union City, Indiana 1970 births American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Indiana Country musicians from Minnesota Living people 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Indiana Singer-songwriters from Minnesota