Rocky Athas | |
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 Athas live with John Mayall at Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, in 2014. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 15 October 1954 Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Website | https://www.rockyathas.com/ |
Rocky Athas (born 15 October 1954 [1] ) in Texas, is a blues songwriter and guitarist, best known for his work with Black Oak Arkansas, Glenn Hughes, Buddy Miles, Double Trouble and John Mayall.
Rocky Athas first founded blues band 'Lightning' that toured Texas and played as supporting act for numerous local bands. [2] When he was 23, Texas music magazine Buddy ranked him in the Top 10 best guitarists. [3] He is one of the first and youngest one to receive this recognition, also granted to Eric Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Billy Gibbons or Johnny Winter.
He then joined several acts as a lead guitarist, including Black Oak Arkansas. He wrote two of the band's greatest hits, "Ready as Hell" and "Wild Bunch". While in BOA, he met Johnnie and Tommy Bolin (Deep Purple and James Gang), who became close friends. After Tommy's death, Rocky performed tribute shows to his friend with Johnnie Bolin and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple and Trapeze) in support of the Tommy Bolin Archives foundation. [4] In 2009, he released A Tribute to Tommy Bolin with Glenn Hughes & Friends, a live tribute album to Tommy Bolin.
In 2000, Rocky recorded Blues Berries with Buddy Miles and Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section, Double Trouble. [3] Rocky also covered 'The Wind Cries Mary' for the album Blue Haze – Songs of Jimi Hendrix.
In 2003, he founded The Rocky Athas group and released Miracle, [5] produced by Jim Gaines, with whom he became friends while recording Blues Berries. In 2005, the band released a second album, VooDoo Moon, in collaboration with Larry Samford. [6] In 2007, he released Lightning Strikes Twice, made up of tracks from his first band 'Lightning'. [6]
In 2009, John Mayall asked him to play lead guitar on Tough. In 2014, he recorded a second album with Mayall, A Special Life. Athas intensively toured with the legendary bluesman until 2016, when John Mayall decided to operate as a trio. [4]
In 2014, Rocky released Let My Guitar Do The Talking...With My Friends on Cherryburst Records. The album is instrumental, and Athas used several vintage guitars from his personal collection. His old friend Smokin' Joe Kubek and John Mayall both appeared on the album.
In 2015, Rocky released two compilations, entitled The Essential Rocky Athas (Volume I and Volume II), featuring several bonus tracks, including a cover of "'White Room" by Cream.
In 2017, Athas released Shakin' The Dust, produced by Jim Gaines (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana's Supernatural). [7]
Rocky Athas has been heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Other influences are Freddie King, The Beatles, Cream, Mountain and Leslie West. [8] [4]
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie, Mick Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves, and numerous others.
John Mayall is an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.
Stephen Ray Vaughan was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues music, and one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He was the younger brother of guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.
Thomas Richard Bolin was an American guitarist who played with Zephyr, The James Gang, and Deep Purple, in addition to maintaining a notable career as a solo artist and session musician.
Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Doug Aldrich is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints. He is currently a member of The Dead Daisies. He has also released several solo albums. Doug toured with former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes' band in 2015. It was announced in early 2016 that he would be replacing Richard Fortus as guitarist of The Dead Daisies.
Nuno Mindelis, nicknamed "The Beast from Brazil", is an Angolan-born Brazilian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.
The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble is a compilation album of recorded material by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and his backing band Double Trouble, released in 2002. The album was released by Epic Records and includes songs from 1980 to 1990 including several live tracks on two discs. In 2008, the album was re-released as part of the Limited Edition 3.0 series, with a third bonus disc containing six additional songs culled from studio albums.
Doyle Bramhall was an American blues singer, guitarist and drummer with deep roots in the Austin, Texas music scene.
Alan Haynes, born in Houston, Texas, is an American Texas blues guitarist. Haynes has been playing professionally since the 1970s and has performed with a variety of blues musicians that include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Albert Collins, Albert King, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, and Otis Rush among others. He now resides in Austin, Texas, and plays locally in and around Texas' major cities, especially Houston, occasionally in Dallas and Fort Worth, and also Europe, where he has a following in Scandinavian countries, Germany, Denmark and Israel.
The Soul to Soul Tour was a concert tour through North America, Europe and Australasia, undertaken by American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble from 1985 through 1986. At the beginning of the tour, the band had finished recording their album Soul to Soul. Their commercial and critical acclaim had been demonstrated during the Couldn't Stand the Weather Tour in 1984, when they had played before a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall. Longing for opportunities to expand the group's lineup, Vaughan and Double Trouble hired keyboardist Reese Wynans during the Soul to Soul recording sessions in Dallas, Texas. Throughout the tour, the band's success was confirmed as their performances consistently amazed and gratified their audiences.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American blues rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and the frontman for the band Double Trouble. He is often regarded as one of the greatest guitarists and blues musicians of all time. During his career, he released four studio albums, one live album, and several singles.
In the early morning of Monday, August 27, 1990, American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin, at age 35. He was one of the most influential blues guitarists of the 1980s, described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "the second coming of the blues".
The Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of American guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, based on his favorite guitar, Number One. The guitar debuted at the NAMM Show in January 1992 and began selling at various music stores.
Greg Hampton is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, who has worked on such albums as Alice Cooper's Along Came a Spider, Tommy Bolin's Whips and Roses, Lita Ford's Wicked Wonderland, and Eli Cook‘s Primitive Son. Hampton has also appeared as the member of several groups over the years, including Science Faxtion, the New Czars, and Razorball. In 2011, it was announced that Hampton had formed a new project, 9 Chambers, with ex-Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell, Gov't Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson, and ex-Black Sabbath/Dio/Heaven & Hell drummer Vinny Appice.
Christopher Layton, also known as "Whipper", is an American drummer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Tommy Bolin and Friends: Great Gypsy Soul, often referred to as simply Great Gypsy Soul, is a double tribute album to former Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin. Released on March 26, 2012, the album contains newly recorded music from original outtakes and alternative versions, with several modern musicians and singers performing singing on top of the original multi-tracks along with Bolin and his band. All tracks contain Bolin's original guitar work and vocals. Additional performers include Joe Bonamassa, Nels Cline, Peter Frampton, Warren Haynes, Glenn Hughes, Myles Kennedy, Sonny Landreth, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Oz Noy, Prairie Prince, John Scofield, Big Sugar, Derek Trucks and Brad Whitford.
Sean Chambers is an American blues rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He has released eight albums since 1998, with the more recent offerings, Trouble & Whiskey (2017) and Welcome to My Blues (2018), appearing in the US Billboard Blues Albums Chart.
Alastair L. Greene is an American blues rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His debut album, A Little Wiser was released in 2001, the first of nine under his name over the next 20 years. Greene's guest appearances include those with Eric Burdon, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Savoy Brown, John Németh and Debbie Davies. He has also performed and/or recorded with Alan Parsons, Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, and Sugaray Rayford.
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