Born in 1954, Texan Rocky Athas started playing guitar at school and performing at neighborhood gigs with good friend Stevie Ray Vaughan who were schoolmates and friends growing up in the Dallas, Texas suburbs. By age 23, Rocky was honored as one of the ten best guitarists in the state and In the late 70's and early 80's he was the creative vortex behind 'Lightning', one of the biggest draws in Texas nightclub history.
Rocky took a further step up when he signed on as lead guitarist for the legendary 'Black Oak Arkansas' who featured him on their 'Ready As Hell' album and showcased him on their tours from 1996 through 2001. As a session guitarist for Polygram records he recorded with the late Buddy Miles on a project called The Blues Berries and on sessions with Stevie Ray's rhythm section of Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon.
Producer Jim Gaines felt Rocky's talents should be showcased under his own name and so the four piece Texan band, 'The Rocky Athas Group' debuted with the 2003 CD 'Miracle'. This subsequently led to his next one entitled 'Voodoo Moon' also produced by Jim Gaines to excellent reviews.
It was shortly after this release that Mayall happened to catch Rocky's set when he opened for him at a Texas club and was impressed enough to take down a phone number for future reference. In 2008, John was putting together a new band for a studio album and thought Rocky would be ideal for what he had in mind. Rocky was pleased to accept the offer and got on a plane to California and within a week his position in the band was locked in. He has since been impressing audiences worldwide as a player in a long line of John's legendary guitarists.
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