Born: Unknown
Profile: He is a self-taught American guitarist who influenced by many styles including Jazz, Classical, Funk, Blues and even Country. His guitar works can be heard in his previous and current band such as "Revolution", "Dominion" and "Outworld", respectively.
History: Cooley received his first guitar on his 15th birthday (a Peavey T27 guitar and a Peavey Decade amp) from that day on he immersed himself in music, practicing upwards of 4 hours a day. Unsatisfied with local Instructors, he began teaching himself through instructional books and videos.
During high school, young Cooley took music theory classes and also attended the National Guitar Workshop. He performed solo guitar in high school talent shows and performed such pieces as Van Halen’s 'Eruption' and Randy Rhoads 'Revelation Mother Earth' solos. During his senior year, he was offered his first teaching job at the same store, where he had bought his first guitar.
After graduating from High School, Cooley continued studying Music Theory at the local college, as well as Music History and Class Piano. In 1989, he joined the local rock band "Revolution", the band wrote, performed and recorded all original music. They became one of Houston’s top drawing bands, and opened for national acts like "Badlands", "Nitro", "Every Mothers Nightmare", and "South Gang".
In 1992, "Revolution" released a four-song EP. "Revolution’s" music was once described as "Skid Row" meets Yngwie Malmsteen. The band made two appearances on a local TV show called 'Metallurgy' and 'Metallurgy Unplugged'. Cooley also taught guitar on a college TV show called 'Stay Tuned'. In 1993, he quit the band and started a new band called "Dominion", this new band wrote and performed locally as well but was short lived and broke up in 1995. Also, during 1995 he entered and won the 'Guitar Master Series' winning the title of 'Best Guitarist' in Houston.
In 1996, marked the beginning of a new direction, Cooley bought his first 7-string guitar and decided it was time to go for it on his own. It was during this period that he began to work on instrumental guitar compositions. These songs represented his desire to record an over-the-top guitar instrumental release featuring state of the art chops and strong melodic content. He also hosted 3 episodes of a local cable show called 'World Class Guitar Techniques', which aired in the Houston area.
In 2000, Cooley released an instructional CD 'Shred Guitar Manifesto' and gained endorsements with Jackson Guitars and Seymour Duncan pickups, and started doing guitar clinics as well. In 2001, he released two more instructional CD 'Extreme Pentatonics' and 'The Art of Picking'. Soon after, Cooley was asked to headline Jemfest in Orlando, Florida in 2002. Late that year, he had a custom 8 string guitar hand made by Bill Conklin of Conklin guitars.
In 2003, Cooley was given the honor of the '7th Fastest Shredder of all Time' in Guitar One Magazine, and not wanting to be known for shred skills alone, he and Bobby Williamson formed "Outworld", recorded its self-titled debut which was released in 2006 to both critical and artist acclaim. With the success of "Outworld’s" debut, and increasing notoriety in guitar circles, Cooley garnered a significant number of endorsements with Dean Guitars, EMG pickups and Diamond Amplification. In 2007, "Outworld" won 10,000 in a Famecast contest similar to American Idol where viewers watched and voted for the favorite artist.
Influences: Randy Rhoads, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Allan Holdsworth, Paganini, Bach, Steve Vai, Gary Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Marty Friedman, Shawn Lane, Derek Taylor, Buckethead, Todd Duane, Scott Stine and Haji’s Kitchen and Ritchie Kotzen
Axology: Jackson guitars, Dean Rusty Cooley signature series guitar - the RC7 Xenocide and Diamond Amplifiers
Signature song(s): Under the Influence - Rusty Cooley (Rusty Cooley, 2003)
Link(s):
http://www.rustycooley.com/ (Official website)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL3RJ4B349o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6frmbC3pdTs&feature=related
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