Local rockers' career on a roll
BY CAITLIN GIDDENS Contributing reporter

Rockett Queen members are Chris C., C.C. Harte and Dub-Lee.

In recent months, local band Rockett Queen's success has shot off, appropriately, like a rocket. One day the band is practicing in a garage and dreaming of making it big, and the next they have a song in the popular teen movie John Tucker Must Die and are performing across the nation. However, despite their new fame, the members of Rockett Queen remain rooted in their hometown of Whitehouse.

"We always said we wanted to get out of Whitehouse and Tyler," lead vocalist Dub-Lee said. "But now we realize it's how we started, so we come back now and then to visit."

Before making the band, all of the Rockett Queen members went to high school in the East Texas area. "Looking back, high school was just a flash in the pan," guitarist and Bullard grad Chris C. said. "But that's how some of us met and dreamed of forming a band."

Rockett Queen got their name by taking a cue from one of the musical legends.

"We were listening to Guns 'N' Roses when we got the idea of Rockett Queen," Whitehouse grad Dub-Lee said. "It was one of our brightest moments."

After establishing their name, their genre was to be decided. "We didn't want to be a girlish or emo band," Dub-Lee said. "We wanted to show everyone that we weren't afraid of real rock and roll."

These self-proclaimed rockers seemed to be on a roll with the song "The Next Big Thing" in the film John Tucker Must Die.

"Actually getting in that movie was kind of an accident," said drummer and Lufkin grad C.C. Harte. "Chris was cruising through the Internet and saw a myspace contest so we entered. Then we forgot about it until they called for a recording."

Then the band reaped the benefits with a "big movie check."

"I bought a cougar that came in a box, and a whole bunch of pizza," Chris said. "And Dub-Lee saved for the iPhone."

Rockett Queen's next show is in Gun Barrel City on Sept. 1. In the meantime, the band plans to spend the month of August writing new songs and hitting the studio.

"We get inspired for music just by life," Dub-Lee said. "Doing what we do, and just having a good time. That's always how the best songs are created."