Rocky was raised in Thunderbolt, Georgia, a small shrimping community near Savannah, and attended Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University where he majored in Commercial Art. He helped to pay for that education by playing piano professionally in several night spots along Savannah's famed River Street. He relocated to Atlanta in 1973 and soon formed a traditional New Orleans jazz Band, Raz'Mataz, at Six Flags Over Georgia.

He began playing banjo just in time to take Raz'Mataz to Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1978. That summer of music proved successful and soon Rocky was hired by Kennywood to write and produce live entertainment in-house. He met and married Rebecca Poland, the first singer he hired when he began expanding Kennywood's entertainment department, and together they wrote and produced over 30 musical shows in a 14 year career as Kennywood's Director of Live Entertainment.

In 1992 Rocky and 2 partners opened, operated, and were the house band for Fanny Moon's Beer Hall in Underground Atlanta. In 1996 they closed the jazz club and Rocky decided to finally put his art backrgound to use when he began a freelance graphic design, illustration, and web design firm, ArtWorks Graphics.

Rocky continues to play music professionally as the co-owner and banjo player of Atlanta's Ruby Red's Band and has taught 4-string banjo workshops throughout the country, often contributing articles to leading banjo magazines. His latest project was creating 3 virtual groups: B@LL L@BS; BALL BEARING; and PLAY BALL, to showcase original music he's written and recorded for digital distribution.

Additionally, Rocky keeps a daily hand in the computer graphics business as ArtWorks Graphics continues to be a source for economical high-quality graphic design, web design, and illustration for small businesses in Atlanta.