The Daily Times features Rocky Athas ~ by Correspondent Lee Zimmerman
Rocky Athas talks about super success and super star connections.
Rocky Athas goes by several nicknames — “The Texas Tornado,” “The Malice from Dallas,” “The Young Eric Clapton,” and “The Last Great Bluesbreaker Guitarist,” but it’s not without good reason. As if his tenure with John Mayall’s Bluebreakers isn’t enough to base his reputation on, the fact that he’s played alongside a number of notables — multi-Grammy winning producer Jim Gaines, Buddy Miles, Double Trouble, Joe Walsh, and Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes, among them — has made him one of the the most renowned and revered blues guitarists of the current era. His latest opus, the tellingly-titled “Livin’ My Best Life,” offers further reason why he’s considered one of the most prolific players making music today.
Rocky Athas ~ Livin My Best Life
Athas, who performs at Bluetick Tavern for the Smoky Mountain Blues Society this Sunday, May 17, said that it was his early exposure to music that inspired him.
“I, like an entire generation, were mesmerized by the iconic Beatles performance on ‘The Ed Sullivan’ show,” he said. “I was influenced by all of the good players that I grew up jamming with, because we were all friends in the same neighborhood. We were more like brothers, and everything was a giant open book between us. In the days before YouTube, if you wanted to learn something, you actually had to play the record over and over and over again until you figured it out, much to the irritation of my parents. If one of us figured out something off of Jimi Hendrix’s Axis Bold As Love, we would show each other how we thought it was played. Whether we learned it correctly or not is another story.”
Athas also recalls a chance encounter with man who would come to be a huge influence on him. “Freddie King was the man,” Athas said. “I got to see him countless times in person. Not only was his playing phenomenal, but he was one of the nicest guys in the world. He emanated joy on stage through his playing and through his smile. He seemed to truly love making music and that left an impression on me. Music made me that happy too.”
Happily then, Athas secured a string of high profile gigs early on. After opening for Black Oak Arkansas in Paris, Texas, the band’s lead singer, Jim Dandy, called him and asked if he would like to join the band. “He basically poached me from my own band,” Atlas said. “I said yes, and on the road I went.”
One of the members of Black Oak Arkansas was drummer Johnnie Bolin, the brother of the late and legendary guitarist Tommy Bolin. Through that association, Athas got the opportunity to record one of Tommy Bolin’s unreleased tracks for his album Miracle, and was later invited to become a featured performer at the Tommy Bolin tribute festival in Sioux City Iowa. It was while taking that tribute on tour that he connected with Glenn Hughes.
Athas also had the distinction of performing with Buddy Miles, the legendary drummer for Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies. “Buddy was a friend long before we recorded the Blues Berries album with Double Trouble,”Athas continued. “I remember playing football in a huge field next to a hotel with all the guys, including Buddy, when we were staying in Houston for a gig. Lots of friendships were forged on the road in situations like that. I was fascinated with the great stories he told about his days with Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsies, and I loved his voice and his playing. He always had a groove and some soul.”
By the age of 23, Athas had been included in Buddy Magazine’s now-legendary list of Top Guitarists — one of the first and the youngest to receive the honor. He shares that honor with Eric Johnson, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Billy Gibbons, and Johnny Winter. Guitar Player Magazine wrote that Rocky was, “a veteran Texas gunslinger with a wicked tone and a thriving solo career of his own.”
A further highlight of Athas’ career took place when he was tapped to be the guitarist in John Mayall’s famed Bluesbreakers band, the latest in a long line of legendary players that included Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor (later of the Rolling Stones), and Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
“That was another situation where, just like when Jim Dandy called, John called me out of the blue and asked me to join him,” Athas said. “No middle man, no handlers, no audition. I actually thought the phone call was a prank from one of my friends, and I didn’t take him seriously. That ended up being a tad awkward for a moment, but everything ultimately worked out. He said he remembered seeing me play years before and heard my album Miracle on the radio in the UK and liked what he heard. After he bought it, he called me. When I went to California to meet him and record, I asked him how he wanted me to play. I’ll never forget what he said. He said, ‘Just be yourself. That’s why I hired you. I want you to be you.’ I loved it and cranked it up and got down to business.”
After an amicable parting of ways with Mayall, Athas recorded a series of solo albums with Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Gaines, the man behind the boards for Santana, Steve Miller, Journey, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blues Producer of the Year in 2003 and subject of the recent book, “Thirty Years Behind the Glass.” Those recordings included Miracle, Voodoo Moon, Lightning Strikes Twice, Let My Guitar Do The Talking...with my friends. The latter is an “all-instrumental, all-guitar, all the time” album that includes samples of several vintage guitars from Athas’ personal collection. It also features guest appearances by long-time friend and fellow Texas guitarist “Smokin’” Joe Kubek and an exclusive performance by John Mayall on keyboards,
In 2015, a commemorative Rocky Athas series of albums was released, highlighting his most popular solo work. It features never-before-released bonus tracks that pay homage to the artists who influenced him, among them, Eric Clapton and the late Leslie West. One critic called it “a delectable album tailor-made for the blues enthusiast” filled with “delicious howling guitar riffs.”
“I am so focused on the creative process that I have no clue what the next album will be,” Athas said. “All my energy goes into the now. I love writing and recording music more than anything.”
If you go:
Who: Rocky Athas Band
When: 5 p.m., Sunday, March 17 (Doors open at 4 p.m.)
Where: Bluetick Tavern, 128 W Broadway Ave, Maryville
How much: $20 for SMBS members and $25 for the general public
Info: Go to smokymountainblues.org
Originally published on March 13, 2024 HERE
By The Daily Times
Written by Correspondent Lee Zimmerman