Rusty Cooley
Rusty Cooley |
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Rusty Cooley is a guitarist from Houston, Texas.
Early life
Rusty received his first equipment (a Peavey T27 guitar and a Peavey Decade amp) on his fifteenth birthday. From that day on Cooley immersed himself in music, practicing upwards of 4 hours a day. Rusty took guitar lessons for a while but became dissatisfied with local guitar instructors and decided to become self-taught. He relied on instructional books and videos like Doug Mark's Metal Method.
After only three years of playing he became a guitar teacher at the music store where he had purchased his first guitar.
After high school Rusty went to the local college and studied Music Theory.
Rusty joined Revolution in 1989 and stayed with them until 1993. During his time with Revolution they became a well-known band in Houston, even opening for bands such as Nitro, Badlands, South Gang, and Every Mother's Nightmare.
Rusty formed a short-lived band called Dominion after he left Revolution. The band broke up in 1995. During this time Rusty won the Guitar Master Series and was named "Best Guitarist" in Houston.
Solo work
Rusty was unsatisfied with local musicians and began to work on solo music in early 1996. He also began playing 7-string guitars exclusively at this time. His debut solo album Rusty Cooley was released in 2003 on Lion Music.
Currently
Rusty recently collaborated with Pro Tone Pedals on testing their new Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Signature Distortion Pedal, as Jason himself now has ALS and can no longer play the guitar. Pro Tone Pedals has posted several videos of Rusty testing prototypes of the pedal on YouTube, and on one video, Rusty himself commented on it, saying that Jason was one of his biggest influences and that it was an honor to work on his signature pedal. Recently Pro Tone has also been working on a Rusty Cooley Signature pedal as well. Rusty has also released his signature 7-string model with Dean. Recently his lead work was featured on metal band Austrian Death Machine's new album, "Double Brutal." Recently, Rusty has been recording a demo with his new band Day of Reckoning. (www.myspace.com/dayofreckoningmetal)
Teaching
Rusty has been a guitar instructor since his third year of playing. He has also released five instructional products, done lessons for magazines (such as his Metal Guru column) and posted many lessons on sites such as Shredaholic. In addition, he has taught for the National Guitar Workshop three times (1996, 1997, 1998) and given many clinics. Rusty has many successful students, such as Chris Storey (ex All Shall Perish) and Mica Roth, former member of Hybreed.
Endorsements
Currently Rusty is endorsed by Dean Guitars, EMG Pickups, Morley Pedals, GHS strings, VHT, Rocktron, Eventide, Maxon [disambiguation needed] and more recently Peavey amplification.
He was previously endorsed by Jackson Guitars and, more recently, Ibanez Guitars.
His Signature Dean Model was released at NAMM in early 2007.
Releases
Music
- Outworld - Outworld (band)
- Rusty Cooley
- Book of Reflections
- Shawn Lane Remembered Vol. 1
- Warmth in the Wilderness 2 A Tribute to Jason Becker
- Prog Power 4
- Prog Power 3
- The Alchemist
- Fresh Blood Vol. 4
- Lick This
- Guitarapalooza Vol. l
- Ball One Strike One
- Across the Miles
- Revolution 4-song EP
- Two guest solos on the track "From So Far Away" from All Shall Perish's album "Awaken the Dreamers"
- All solos on the track "Let off some steam Bennett" from Austrian Death Machine's album "Double Brutal"
Instructional products
- Shred Guitar Manifesto
- Extreme Pentatonics
- The Art of Picking
- Rusty Cooley Performance/Clinic
- Rusty Cooley Performance/Clinic 2
- Basic Training
- Fretboard Autopsy - Parts I & II
- Guest Lesson on Mark Tremonti - The Sound and The Story
Television appearances
- Stay Tuned
- Metallurgy Live
- Metallurgy Unplugged
- World Class Guitar Techniques
- Robb’s Metal Works