Rocket Club is an American

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, ...

band composed of Joel Sayles (bass, vocals), Brian Kroening (guitars), Don Smithmier (vocals,

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), Chris Hawkey (vocals), Matt Kirkwold (guitars), and Walter Powell (drums).

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

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and

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, as well as airplay on Minneapolis radio station

KEEY-FM KEEY-FM (102.1 MHz, "K102") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul radio market. It broadcasts a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studio ...

. It is also included on a multi-artist album entitled ''Hope Rocks Volume II'', the benefits of which go to a

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that Mark and his wife, Susan, founded. "One More Day" debuted on the ''Billboard''

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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''

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, 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''

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. After a nearly 8-year hiatus, the band released the single, “Easy,” in February 2022. This collaboration led to a full reunion and the release of their fifth album, “Come On Home” in 2023.

Other information

Smithmier is a Minnesota tech entrepreneur.Bruch, Michelle (2011)
Entrepreneur Don Smithmier: They told him to 'focus,' and luckily, he didn't listen
, ''MinnPost'', February 24, 2011. Guitarist Luke Kramer was a band member from 2011 to 2014 and performed on the “North Country” and “Lucky” albums. Billy Thommes (drums) was a founding band member and performed all every album. Founding guitarist Matt Kirkwold re-joined the band in 2022. Walter Powell (drums) joined the band in 2023.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{Reflist, 30em American country music groups Musical groups from Minnesota Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in Minnesota