By age 23, Rocky Athas was honored as one of Texas’ ten best guitarists as an inductee to Buddy Magazine’s Texas Tornadoes. He holds this honor with guitarists that include ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Eric Johnson, Bugs Henderson, Johnny Winter, John Nitzinger and Jimmy Vaughan. Rocky grew up playing neighborhood gigs with childhood pal Stevie Ray Vaughan, and shortly thereafter flip-flopped headliner chores in a series of shows with another friend, Eric Johnson. No less than Billy Gibbons, Pantera’s “Dime-Bag” Darrell Abbott, and the New Bohemians’ Kenny Withrow are long-time admirers of the Oak Cliff guitarist.

In the late '70s and early '80s, he was the creative vortex behind Lightning, one of the biggest draws in Texas nightclub history. The band toured with the hottest arena acts of the time, including Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, The Kinks, Rick Derringer, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and Peter Frampton. Also at that time, Rocky’s fame was such that Guild introduced the Rocky Athas I guitar, and Gibson honored Rocky by making him the only non-record label endorsee in the company’s history.

Rocky took a further step up and received a well-earned and more substantial taste of the big time when he signed on as lead guitarist for the legendary Black Oak Arkansas. Rocky also played on BOA’s Ready As Hell album, with his remarkable musical presence indelibly etched into the grooves of the critically acclaimed album. Rocky once again joined BOA when the group toured from 1996 through 2001. The band's most recent CD, The Wild Bunch, which was released in 1999.

Subsequently, Rocky has been involved in numerous projects, including working with the likes of former Deep Purple/Trapeze vocalist Glenn Hughes, Buddy Miles, and Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. Rocky remains an active force in the music scene today.

Information from the artist's site

Musicians

• Rocky Athas: guitar
• Larry Samford: guitar, lead vocals, vocals
• Barry Baranowski: drums
• Guthrie Kinnard: bass

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