After carrying the mantle for eight years of the coveted role of lead guitarist with John Mayall's legendary Bluesbreakers, Rocky Athas returned to his successfully established solo career. In 2017, the much anticipated reunion between Rocky's good friend and multi-Grammy winning producer, Jim Gaines, delivered Shakin' the Dust to rave reviews! By the age of 23, the Oak Cliff, Texas native had been included in Buddy Magazine's now-legendary list of Top Ten Guitarists - one of the first and youngest to receive the honor. Rocky shares the 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." Neil Spencer of Uncut Magazine highly praised the new work, "... whose guitarist, Rocky Athas, recalls the young Eric Clapton." In 2014, Rocky released Let My Guitar Do The Talking...With My Friends on Cherryburst Records. The album is "all-instrumental, all-guitar, all the time, all vintage". In 2015, the ultimate, commemorative Rocky Athas series was released, highlighting Rocky's most crowd-pleasing solo work. Including never-before-released bonus tracks paying homage to artists who influenced him, like Eric Clapton and Leslie West. The Essential Rocky Athas - Volume I & II is hailed globally by critics as "a delectable album tailor-made for the blues enthusiast" filled with "delicious howling guitar riffs". <br>