Minneapolis group Rocket Club Returns to Fargo In May

Minneapolis-based country band Rocket Club will play the Sanctuary Events Center with Chris Hawkey on Friday, May 12, 2023. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 20.

Rocket Club

Launched in 2008 and hailing from Minneapolis, Rocket Club achieved something over their first six years together that no other Minnesota band has before or since: three songs on the Billboard country charts as an unsigned, independent act. That success brought a large and loyal Midwest following, along with the opportunity to share the stage with many of Nashville’s biggest stars – and all of it while relying entirely on their own ability to write and record the music they wanted to make and to do it their own way.

“Rocket Club is a songwriter’s band in progress,” so says the mini-manifesto written inside the band’s self-titled 2008 debut and so maintains the group today as it readies for the release of its first new studio album in eight years. Talk to anyone in the band and you’ll hear the same message: it’s all about the songs.

After releasing its fourth studio record (“Lucky”) in 2014, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. Much to their surprise, however, even though they were no longer making music, their music continued to make fans. Rocket Club is readying itself for atmospheric re-entry with a new record and a new tour.

Chris Hawkey

Chris Hawkey, the self-described luckiest man in the world, was born and raised In Union City, a small town that rests on the state-line that separates Ohio from Indiana. He spent his youth competing in a wide variety of sports while dreaming of seeing the world through the windows of a tour bus. Having joined his first band at the age of 15, Chris began his pursuit of “the dream” while still in high school, playing “every bar and city festival within a 100-mile radius.”

In 2001, Chris was hired to co-host and produce the Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN. The morning show has become the number-one-rated morning show in the Twin Cities and one of the top-rated in the United States. Hawkey also produces the radio broadcast of Minnesota Vikings and is a regular contributor to the Vikings Entertainment Network. Chris is also a frequent champion for kids-based charities across the midwest and is well known for giving generously of his time and talents to the community.

In addition to his successful radio show, Chris is the leader of the Chris Hawkey Band that performs across the Midwest with his special brand of music he calls “North Country.” The Chris Hawkey Band has released 6 albums. In addition, in early 2020, Chris debuted a new music brand “Hawk” releasing two hard rock songs.