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It's rare these days to find a musician who doesn't also have a day job, especially in a small town like Oxford. But as you sit at your desk, you may be staring out the window, humming a song or scribbling lyrics. You may be in class and quietly play keyboard on your leg, hoping no one notices. Eventually, though, that doesn't cut it and you've got to get up on stage.
Such is the case for newly-formed Rocket 88, comprised of Robert Chaffe, Bradley Gordon, Jamie Posey, Rosamond Posey and Nathan Robbins. None of the group is a stranger to the musical world, and all have been in other projects; the Poseys are formerly of Honey Blonde, and Robert was in the Kudzu Kings and currently is also in Pithecanfuncus Erectus. Bradley also plays with Daniel Karlish and Heavy Duty, and Nathan plays with Seth Libbey and the Liberals.
"Music is who we are, and we missed it." Jamie Posey said when I sat down with him, Rosamond and Robert earlier in the week. Choosing a name was a difficult process, but finally Rocket 88 was chosen, after what is arguably the first rock 'n roll record, written by Mississippians James Cotton and Ike Turner. Rocket 88 was produced by Sam Phillips at Sun Studio in Memphis and was then sold to Chess Records in 1951 and had become a No. 1 hit. Naturally, Rockett 88 seemed like a good name for a band.
So what does Rocket 88 play? "It's definitely roots rock, that's a broader term," Robert added. "It's electric folk music dealing with instruments of keyboards, drums and electric guitar so you just have to imagine that will influence the final product. It's just rock and roll. "What we do has elements of jam, and we do gospel, rock and roll, we do country," Jamie said.
Rocket 88 has several original songs, including "Tombstone" and "King Moonshine," but also plays covers of Hank Williams Sr., Gram Parsons, Lucinda Williams, the Flatlanders, Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens. "It's like traditional music but we rev it up a little bit," Robert said. "It's how we interpret it that determines the end result."
The group formed easily enough, through a network of mutual friends. "We've known Robert, and he knew Bradley, and we knew him as an aquaintance through Daniel, and we met Nathan through Seth Libbey," Jamie said. And so the band was born.
After taking a hiatus from Honey Blonde to finish school, the Poseys were excited to get back into the swing of things. "Everybody was doing their own thing in different bands and there was a lull, so we all wanted to scratch that itch," Jamie said. "We were hungry to get out and play, but it's nice to do it with a group of friends," Rosamond said. "It's fun being with all these guys."
The group has high aspirations as well. "We plan on playing around the region again, checking out some of the old haunts," Jamie said. They're aiming to play Newby's in Memphis and Chelsea's in Baton Rouge.
Beyond playing in front of people, they want the listener to be able to take the music with them and hope to have all their hard work culminate into a CD. "I think it's important to document what you do and it lets your fan base enjoy what you do as well," Jamie said. Luckily for that fan base, Rocket 88 takes the stage this Friday night at Proud Larry's and again at City Grocery on Thursday, April 28, so be sure and check them out.
Rebecca Lauck Cleary, for the Oxford Town