Live Review-  Rocky Athas Band played at J & J's Blues Bar

Rocky Athas Band played at J & J's Blues Bar Saturday, August 4th.  Both  Rocky and lead vocalist Larry Samford grew up in Oak Cliff,  Rocky playing with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Buddy Miles in a band called Double Trouble.  Rocky graced us with some tunes from Double Trouble during the course of the evening along with tunes from the two CDs that the Rocky Athas Band currently has for sale which are Miracle and Voo Doo Moon.  When Larry Samford took center stage  and Rocky began to weave his magic, together they kept the house spellbound as if under a voo doo moon taking us on a wild ride with a "Slow Driver".  The Rocky Athas Band is undoubtedly one of the best blues bands in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.  The guys hit us, and when they did they hit hard with songs like " Long Time Gone" and the title cut off Miracle which Larry wrote for that special someone in his life.   Guthrie not only laid down a solid bass beat but sang several songs as well also adding to the magic.  The end of the evening saw a special treat as local blues legend Oakland joined Rocky on the stage joining past and present adding a bit of that Delta sound to round off the evening.  The crowd really came alive as Oakland sang "Slipping In".  Looking like a scene from the recording studio at Stack Records, R & B was flowing form the soul as once again Rocky Athas showed why he's the king of the blues in Dallas/Fort Worth.

D Wakeley  
dallasmusic.com
staff writer