Rocketown 5
Various Artist
Rocketown Records

It's a simple but amazing story.

In 1995, two friends ,Michael W. Smith and Don Donahue get together for lunch to talk about a dream. A dream to establish a company outside of the norm. From there, Don meets with an old friend Chris Rice, who became the first artist signed to the new Rocketown label. Rice's debut rockets to the top and is heard all over Christian radio.

Then, one day Christy and Nathan Nockels (Watermark) are driving down the road listening to Chris and they knew then that they wanted to be a part of this. Next to join the line up was Ginny Owens. Ginny was drawn in by the family atmosphere of the company, and the couch meetings at the Rocketown corporate headquarters (a small yellow house in Franklin, TN.).

Profound writer Wayne Kirkpatrick also found a home with Rocketown. Wayne was a successful writer, co-writing 1996 Grammy Song of the Year "Change Your World" with Eric Clapton. Rocketown provided Wayne with a place to sing his own songs. More recent additions to Rocketown are Scott and Christine Dente (Out Of the Grey) and rocker Shaun Groves.

The Rocketown family has grown but the family values have stuck. Countless times this company has jumped out of the box to do things differently. Their focus has remained on the artist and the writing. Chairman Michael W. Smith would love to see the company grow, but at the same time he states, "I also want to be careful that we don't get too big - we need to walk that fine line so we don't lose the family feel that makes Rocketown special."

Also on the 5 is "40" from the apt.core CD featuring Ginny Owens. This electronica project developed by producer Will Hunt was the most "out of the box" release from Rocketown, scriptures fused with eastern-electronic music.

"Rocketown 5" is a small collection of these award winning artists. It's an awesome synopsis of five great years. Additionally, there are tracks from three compilation CD's produced by the company (A Night In Rocketown, Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Madeira & Sprague: Coming From Somewhere Else, and Exodus). It's a worthy addition to any collection and a glimpse of the future of Rocketown.

To mark their 5th anniversary, Rocketown President Don Donahue and Chairman Michael W. Smith have donated $10,000 to Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts. This donation further displays their commitment to the arts and their community.

For more information on the Frist Center for the Visual Arts check out their web site at www.fristcenter.org.

Ken W.