Women in rock and roll aren’t really considered a novelty anymore. But that doesn’t mean it goes unnoticed.

“I don’t feel there are a whole lot of female singers,” said Donette Smith, lead vocalist and guitarist for Ivory Star. “Women have come a long way the past couple of years, so maybe [male domination] is a thing of the past.

“I don’t know, I sure don’t feel like I’ve ever been discriminated against in this business.”

The Omaha-based quartet has been roaming the music wayside for the past six years performing primarily as a cover band. But now, with the release of the band’s second album Submerge, the members of Ivory Star are becoming stars in their own right.

The road to rock stardom began for Smith and brother David when she wanted a guitar at age three and he a set of drums.

By seventh grade, David Smith was drumming for Legal Street, a local band. When sister Donette turned 16, she too joined the group. Guitarist Storm Rhode came aboard once Ivory Star emerged and two years ago, bassist Troy Johnson was added.

The four combined influences to come up with the unique poppy-punk Ivory Star now embodies.

“It’s hard to see where stuff comes from,” Donette Smith said of the Ivory Star sound. “Blondie to ’70s funk like Dr. John, it’s all there.”

Smith said the Nebraska music scene was slow in response to these native sons (and daughter), but anymore, they’re becoming shooting stars.

The band’s first album, produced by multi-Grammy winning songwriter Dennis Morgan, sold over 2,000 copies. Submerge has already surpassed those figures with over 2,500 copies sold and getting regular air-play.

“For the first [album] we worked with a three-time Grammy award winner,” Donette Smith said. “It was one of those deals that’s like ‘how can you pass it up?’ So, we went ahead and did it for the experience.

“But Submerge is 100 percent us,” she added. “It means a lot more coming from us.”

So much more in fact, there is room for little else in the group members’ lives as they set out to promote the new disc.

“Our mother always encouraged us,” Donette Smith said. “Both our parents are very supportive. Every time [me and David] miss this family gathering or that family gathering, they stick up for us. It’s such a different life.”

Ivory Star will be at People’s Bar and Grill tonight. Showtime is set for 9 p.m. and cover for the 21-and-over show is $3.