TEXAN blues-rock guitarist Rocky Athas, who appears at Mr Kyps music venue in Poole, Dorset with his band this Thursday may not be a household name, but he has rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest names in rock in his long career.

A childhood friend of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a former member of the bands Lightning and Black Oak Arkansas, Rocky has also shared the stage as a guitarist with the legendary Bo Diddley.

Among his British fans over the years have been Thin Lizzy who wrote the song Cocky Rocky after hearing him play in Dallas, and Queen guitarist Brian May, who incorporated Rocky's unique finger tapping guitar style on a Queen album.

Honoured as one of the ten best guitarists in Texas at the age of 23, Rocky made his reputation with the band Lightning, one of the biggest draws in Texan music history.

During his time with the band, he toured with the hottest arena acts of the time including Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, The Kinks, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, and Peter Frampton.

Rocky has also worked as a session guitarist for Polygram in Memphis Ardent Studios and released two solo instrumental albums.

He was also involved in a project called The Blues Berries with drummer Buddy Miles of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsies. After many years of recording with various musicians in various bands, producer Jim Gaines decided that Rocky's talents should appear under his own name.

This resulted in the acclaimed Armadillo release Miracle in 2003. Rocky and his band have just finished work on a new album VooDoo Moon and will be playing some tracks from it at Mr Kyps.

Tickets for Thursday's gig are from £7. Box office: 01202 748 945.