10 BUDDY JULY 2018 BUDDY THE ORIGINAL TEXAS MUSIC MAGAZINE JULY 2018 VOLUME XXXXVI, NUMBER 1 “I HAVE THREE CHAPTERS IN MY LIFE,” “I explains Rocky Athas, longtime DFW gui- “I tar hero and one of the six original Buddy Texas Tornados. “When I saw Freddie King playing… whoa! He was rocking it and he was playing loud! I still listen to Freddie King every day – he still inspires me. And Steve’s ‘The House is Rockin’,’ how do you categorize that?” —ROCKY ATHAS “I was 10 years old when I got my first guitar (a Kingston that his mother bought at a pawn- shop). My brother, Nick Athas taught me how to play guitar. If it wasn’t for him I most likely would not be where I am today with guitar or music. He played music from all the great artists of that time, from the Beatles, the Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Cream and the Yardbirds.” Chapter 1 HE PLAYED HIS KINGSTON AT a talent show at L.K. Hall El- ementary, and when he was through, he was approached by a fifth grader who had been sit- ting in the front row. He said, “Hey, I saw you playing guitar and I play guitar, too.” It was Steve (later Stevie Ray) Vaughan. They became fast, life- long friends. “Back then, there was no YouTube or easy way to figure out a record.” Rocky recalled. “Steve, me and a couple of other guitar players from Oak Cliff would all get together at a drummer’s house and we would start jamming and showing each other licks. If Steve did a riff and you didn’t know it yet, he’d show you, and vice versa. And some of those guys were great, like Randy Kounsas and David Brown. They would play lead, and then they’d play rhythm for you and you’d just learn to play. Yeah, it was the comradery.” While the Beatles and the Stones were early influences, it was Cream’s blues-based rock that caught the budding six- stringer’s imagination and in- spired him to pursue blues-rock. “When Cream came out, I was just floored,” Rocky admits. “I thought, those are the kind of songs that I want to be a part of.” After Steve left school, mi- grating with his brother, Jimmie and other Dallas players to Austin’s burgeoning blues scene, Rocky remained, slugging it out with local bands, diligently ex- panding his guitar prowess, even- tually gaining notoriety in Light- ning, who by the late ’70s and early ’80s were one of the biggest draws in the state. In 1978, at the age of 23, Rocky Athas was named as one of the first six BUDDY Texas Tor- nados. “I thought it was the greatest honor in the world. It meant a lot to me that BUDDY magazine would do that. I’ve always appreciated it and I still use that in my bio. It means something. If you are a Texas Tornado, it means that you’re appreciated for all the ef- fort to learn how to play well. I remember running into Stoney Burns and I said, “Man, thanks (for being named a Tornado) because you have certainly helped me work and get more money from playing, and he said, “Hey man, I just gave credit where credit was due.” Speaking to Blues Magazine in 2015, he recalled those heady days: “Exploring everything on guitar that a young man would dream of was exhilarating. Play- ing every gig imaginable, open- ing shows for huge acts, and trying to impress rock stars who came to watch the show was the experience of a lifetime. I was happy to show them every guitar trick I knew. Fueled by the inspiration of making music and living my dream of life as a musician, my Lightning memo- ries are terrific days and nights filled with music and friends.” Rocky wasn’t only recognized by Texas musicians; Thin Lizzy wrote the song “Cocky Rocky” after hearing him play. But most importantly, Rocky was learning to write his own songs. By 1979, the band signed with Capricorn Records, but the label filed bankruptcy while their al- bum was in the mixing stage, and although Lightning soldiered on for a couple more years, the momentum, hopes and dreams were gone. Chapter 2 LONGTIME FANS HAD WAIT- ed so long for Rocky to get his big break, and when they didn’t see him around town after the de- mise of Lightning, some thought he might have just packed it in. Rather, he rebounded and joined up with Jim Dandy and Black Oak Arkansas in 1983. During the ’80s and ’90s, he con- tinued to hone his skills as a guitarist and songwriter, collabo- rating with artists like Johnny Bolin, Glenn Hughes (Trapeze, Deep Purple) and Buddy Miles with SRV’s rhythm section, Double Trouble in an outfit called the Bluesberries. It was during the Bluesberries recording ses- sions that Rocky met renowned producer, Jim Gaines who would produce Rocky’s well-received solo efforts. “A lot of people would ask, “Where are you? You still play- ing?” Rocky said. “Oh yeah, I’m still playing - just not in Dallas.” “Hey, do you still have a band?” “Yeah, I’m with Black Oak Ar- kansas.” I was doing 100 dates with them as their guitar player, I did like four albums for them and I was playing everywhere. Or “I’m with Buddy Miles and Double Trouble, we’re doing the Bluesberries album and I’m out touring,” or I’m with Glenn Hughes, and I’m out touring and we put an album out. It was this second chapter of my life where I went out only with national acts and I started thinking on those terms, and then I put out my first two albums and I toured for a while as the Rocky Athas Group.” Rocky had met blues legend John Mayall when his band had opened for him, but it came as a surprise when four years later, he was invited to play lead guitar for Mayall’s upcoming CD, Tough. In his eight years (2009-2017) as the guitarist for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the seminal blues band that defined British blues since its genesis in 1963, Rocky not only learned from the iconic bluesman, but proved himself worthy of an outfit whose roster has featured luminaries like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Coco Montoya and Walter Trout. Rocky played on five Mayall CDs, a live DVD and was playing over 100 shows a year worldwide, winning critical acclaim for his signature guitar style, steeped in blues, but with a distinctive Texas flavor. When Mayall announced in late 2016 a change to a trio for- mat, with himself on guitar, it marked the end of Rocky’s ten- ure as the last lead guitarist for the Bluesbreakers, and Dallas’ first guitar hero finally returned home in 2017. Chapter 3 IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ROCKY’S nature to be forward thinking, so he went straight into the studio with Jim Gaines to write and record a new solo CD. Shakin’ the Dust (Cherryburst Records) is easily Rocky’s most complete, most cohesive album to date, and is a fitting start for the third chapter of the Rocky Athas story. While his style is based on the blues, he admits he’s hardly a blues purist. “Blues rock is just where it’s at,” he insisted. “I still like it (the blues) for what it is, but I’m going to always add a newer ele- ment to it because that’s just who I am. Like when Cream did a Robert Johnson thing, they made it sound like Cream doing it. And when I saw Freddie King playing… whoa! He was rock- ing it and he was playing loud! I still listen to Freddie King every day – he still inspires me. And Steve’s “The House is Rockin’,” how do you categorize that? That’s a rocking song. I’m Rock Blues or Blues Rock, however you want to say it…rockin’ blues. There’s always going to be an element of rock in there, and those blues influences just can’t help but come in.” Besides the expected stellar guitar work, Shakin’ the Dust ben- efits greatly from drummer, Walter Watson’s standout vo- cals. “On a lot of blues rock records, everybody sings in a lower voice and I wanted some- body who had the “pow!” of J.B. Lenoir’s voice. It was so high and pure and he sang blues beauti- fully. Walter can go high when he needs to. That adds a unique energy to blues rock for the singer to be a little higher. “Walter’s vocals cut through and they give the blues rock tracks energy. He can sing some- thing like “Time Flies” smooth and mellow, but then on “You Pushed Me too far,” I wanted him to sound like he was pushing the vocals…you almost want to yell it. So he can yell it, but he yells it in key.” Shakin the Dust also includes co-writing from his wife, Jessica on five of the tracks. “She really is a good lyricist, once she knew what the phrasing is on a song. She came up with the two most important words on “Time Flies.” The song was originally called “My My,” and she said, “You know, you need something to tie those sto- ries together.” I said, “You’re right, but now where are you going to fit it in?” And it was her idea to go “My my, time flies,” - that was like the icing on the cake - the two words that we needed. It’s not called “My My” anymore, it’s called “Time Flies.” I don’t know how we missed that but that’s what’s good about writ- ing with someone.” Unlike many other artists, Rocky is encour- aged by the changes in the music industry spurred by free down- loads and streaming me- dia. “If it will help people to get to your music by giving them a free song download, then I am all for it. You can gain a lot of new fans that way as people begin to share your song and then you get it out on the radio. They’re still playing Shakin’ the Dust on the radio, with all the blues rock stations now. We got on Sirius XM Radio and it’s working real well. It’s a blend of our influences, it’s got rock, it’s got blues – I wanted to make sure that everything had a groove.” Both his son, Rocky II and Walter Watson’s son, Jared are in the touring band. “They were just ready to start playing - they finally caught up with us. It is kind of neat because they grew up with it, they were surrounded by it and it’s only natural…like If you were a race car driver and your sons are hang- ing around the pit, then they’re going to be race car drivers.” While he appreciates that many call him a legend, he insists it’s always been about the song. “The third chapter in my life is now,” he emphasized, “ and there’s no looking back. I want my third chapter to be continu- ally growing as a musician and songwriter because what else is there? We can play licks on the couch until we’re dead, and it’s all about how do I come up with a better song? For me, it is all about the song. I will continue to study the craft of songwriting. To me, that is the fun part of music.” Rocky Athas: The return of the (guitar) hero After eight years of international touring with John Mayall, Rocky Athas is more than ready to further burnish his own legacy. Feature and Photography by Chuck Flores One of the original 1978 Buddy Texas Tornados he plays "Cherry" his #1 guitar a Gibson Les Paul ’59 VOS Historic Model: Rocky Athas