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.

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.

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.

Pro Tone has also been working on a Rusty Cooley Signature pedal as well. Rusty has also released his signature 8-string model with Dean. His lead work was featured on metal band Austrian Death Machine's new album, "Double Brutal" and, recently, Rusty has been recording a demo with his new band Day of Reckoning.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Cooley