Saturday 24 March 2007
Rocket 88 is an Oxford based band made up from members of the Kudzu Kings: Robert Chaffe of Kudzu Kings, Jamie and Rosamond Posey of Honey Blonde, Nathan Robinns of Seth Libbey and Liberals, and Bradley Gordon of Space Invaders, Daniel Karlish Project, Pithacanfunctus Erectus and others. The band is developing larger crowds at each show and is drawing important attention. The band will be playing this year’s Double Decker in Oxford, MS on April 29th as well as Baton Rouge’s Downtown Music and Arts festival, Fest for All on May 6th.
Named after the first rock and roll album written by Mississippians (Clarksdale) James Cotton and Ike Turner, Rocket 88 is one of the newest bands to come out of Oxford, MS. Rocket 88, made up of members from just about all four corners of mississippi (Vicksburg, Meridian, Pontotoc, Clarksdale, and New Orleans) can be described as high energy, gritty, aggressive Mississippi-soaked music that flows off the stage into the crowd like a strong Mississippi River current forcing everyone in earshot to move with the flow.
One of the things that make them unique is their female component in the band, Rosamond Posey. Rosamond’s rhythm playing is very strong and aggressive and her voice has evolved into something you could describe as a cross b/w Stevie Nicks and Lucinda Williams. Rosamond and Jamie Posey both trade off singing lead and support each other with almost sibling-like harmonies which in additional to their various influences gives the show a lot of variety.
The band uses B-3 organ, New Orleans style piano, slide guitar, acoustic guitar and harmonica to give the people a show that runs the gamut from North Mississippi Hill Country Blues, to Juke Joint Gospel, to Cosmic American, all the way to Old Line Country. This band plays a mix of well crafted roots rock originals with tasteful covers done from the likes of Mississippi Hill Country Blues legend Junior Kimbrough, Cosmic American music icon Gram Parsons, Hank Williams Sr. and even early Jerry Lee Lewis gospel that they refer to as Juke Joint Gospel (Gospel more befitting a juke joint than church).
The band line up consists of Rosamond Posey, Robert Chaffe, Jamie Posey, Nathan Robbins and Bradley Gordon, all seasoned veterans of the Oxford music scene. Robert Chaffe (Keys/Organ), is the son of John Chaffe from The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble (For info on John Chaffe, go to this link http://www2.tulane.edu/article_news_details.cfm?ArticleID=3326 and scroll down to the “The Chaffe Era” part of the article).
Robert, perhaps the most veteran player in the band has played keys/organ for the Kudzu Kings out of Oxford, MS as well as the Mosquito brothers, and has sat in with the likes of Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon, The North Mississippi Allstars, and The Burnside Exploration among others.
Bradly Gordon (Drums) is a Clarksdale, MS native who hails from Daniel Karlish fame logging time with not only Daniel’s bands, The Cross Eyed Cats and Heavy Duty (featured on the Beanland documentary soundtrack “Rising from the Riverbed”) but also local Oxford acts Mosaic, The New Madrid Click, and Pithacanfunctus Erectus.
Nathan Robbins (Bass), a hired gun for Seth Libbey and The Liberals, a Jackson, MS based band among other Mississippi acts is from the Tupelo/Pontotoc area. Rosamond Posey, the rhythm guitar player and vocalist from Honey Blonde, another Oxford based act that toured regionally from ‘98-’02, (including Chelseas in Baton Rouge) hails from Vicksburg. Her husband, Jamie Posey from Meridian who also was a member of Honey Blonde, rounds out the band singing and playing lead guitar and harmonica.