Rocco J. Damiano was born in Boston, MA "when dinosaurs walked the earth" and got his first guitar at age 13 from his dad's brother, Frankie. He learned his way around the neck from listening to songs on the radio during the mid/late 60's. The first song he was able to play all the way through was 'House of the Rising Sun' by the Animals. Lots of Dylan and Beatles followed, and he played locally in the southern California area until about 1971 when he finally had to put the guitar down and "get a real job." He picked it up again around 1980 and has been playing it ever since. He loves Les Pauls, strats, acoustic guitars and the blues but discovered the wonderful world of double stops on fender telecasters about 2001 and so he selected a blond telecaster reissue for the lead on "Alligator Mama."

His favorites include Jeff Beck, Les Paul, Pete Anderson, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, western swing, Beatles, Redd Volkaert, Clapton, Freddie King and all the blues greats. "I hope to use my Bozeman, Montana Gibson Hummingbird on the next Centorino CD."