Saturday 12 July 2008
Rocket 88 was formed in the summer of 2005 and played their first show at Two Stick in Oxford, MS on June 6 of that same year. Since then, Rocket 88 has brought its Mississippi soaked roots rock sound to some of the best venues from Tennessee to Louisiana.
By 2008, Rocket 88 had played Oxford’s premier music festival, The Double Decker Arts festival twice, The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic twice, Thacker Mountain Radio Show twice, featured on Mississippi Public Radio twice and Baton Rouge’s Fest for All festival. Rocket 88’s first recorded song, “Highway”, was selected from a field of over 50 regional and local bands to appear on the Fest for All Compilation CD Vol .4.
The band consists of members Rosamond Posey (vocals, rhythm guitar) from Vicksburg, MS; Jamie Posey (vocals, lead guitar, harmonica) from Meridian, MS; Nathan Robbins (bass) from Pontotoc, MS; Robert Chaffe (keyboards, organ) from New Orleans, LA; and Ryan Rogers (Drums) from Forest, MS.
Having been described as everything from “juke joint gospel”, to straight ahead rock and roll, Rocket 88 is self-described as being influenced by the music of the region they call home.
In 2007, George McConnell of WIDESPREAD PANIC fame played his first six gigs with Rocket 88 fresh off the break up with WSP, including a filled to capacity raucous New Years Eve Party at Oxford’s premier music venue, Proud Larrys. Rocket 88’s keyboard player, Robert Chaffe, has also sat in with WSP at Mudd Island Amphitheater in Memphis, TN as well as LEFT OVER SALMON.
Here are some regional press quotes about the band:
The Oxford music scene has always captured that distinctly Mississippi place where the dirt roads that lead to the backwoods country, the juke joint and the rock ‘n’ roll big city meet. Rocket 88, which formed in 2005, carries on that tradition with aplomb. The record showcases a band that combines its Mississippi roots with rock ‘n’ roll attitude. Add in the transcendentally down-home vocals of the Poseys, and Full Circle proves Rocket 88 is the real deal.” – Carey Miller “Hear This” Clarion Ledger Weekender, Jackson, MS, June 5, 2008
-”If you have seen Rocket 88 live, then you are fully aware that each show packs a punch and the momentum never wanes.” -Brad Porter, Oxford Town, April 08 Oxford, MS
-4 out of 5 stars album review in The Scene regional publication covering the Midsouth Music Scene
-”There is a unity within the group that can be sensed on Full Circle and dictates to the listener that the Rocket 88 unit is a well-oiled machine.” -Brad Porter, Oxford Town April 08
Here is our website:
Here is our myspace:
To get a free listen or purchase the album online, click the link below, press the arrow play icon down in the song list and you can listen to a few seconds of each song and purchase a single track or the entire album: