Rocky Petrocelli – Xperience Monthly – an Interview by OP Callaghan

Hello and welcome to Capital Region Time Keepers, a monthly offering that focuses on our local percussion community. I have truly enjoyed doing this for the last year, and have loved interviewing every one of you Time Keepers. Last month while interviewing Brian Melick, it occurred to me that prior to talking with Brian, my focus had been on rock and jazz. Interviewing Brian not only aroused my curiosity for some of the genres that he plays but inspired me to look around at some other styles that I hadn’t yet featured. I’m embarrassed to admit that I had somehow overlooked the Blues. So to make up for my oversight, I bring you (nice tight drum roll please); Rocky Petrocelli!

For those of you who don’t know Rocky, he was the drummer for the legendary Ernie Williams and The Wild Cats. Ernie is one of the finest blues artists to come out of the Capital District, and Rocky Petrocelli was the heartbeat of the band. I have seen Rocky play a bunch of times, and he is as steady as they come. His tasteful fills, unwavering time, and articulate dynamics can be seen in a number of Youtube videos of Ernie Williams (check out Melodies of Christmas from 2008), or with his current band, Dealt the Blues. So, please welcome Rocky Petrocelli!

RRX: Where did you grow up, and how did you get into drumming?

RP: I grew up in Castleton, NY. I started drums in the school band (4th grade) but quit soon after. But my father noticed that I was tapping on everything, so he bought me a pad and sticks and took me to Kimball Music on Central Ave for lessons and I’ve been playing ever since!

RRX: Who were your earliest influences?

RP: RINGO!! Also, Charlie Watts, Levon Helm, Doug Clifford of CCR, Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night…Bonham, Baker, Jim Gordon and many more through the years…and Krupa! And, my mother always had AM radio on and I loved and played to everything that came out of the speaker…so I guess Hal Blaine was also an early influence.

RRX: Did you have formal lessons?

RP: Oh yeah, my first formal teacher was at Kimball’s. I think his name was Jerry Bond? He had me get the Gene Krupa method which was my intro to Krupa! From there I studied with local teachers/players, Mark Galeo and my mentor, Ralph Garafalo. I went to Berklee and got to study with the great Alan Dawson for a couple of years. I also studied a bit with Roberto Petaccia (Maynard Fergueson) and Cheech Iero (Record Plant and vice editor of Modern Drummer). I learned a lot from all of them and use a lot of their techniques in my teaching to this day!

RRX: Talk about your first drum kit.

RP: Besides the Ward’s drum set I got one Christmas with cardboard heads and the colorful Hawaiian scene on the front bass drum head that I destroyed in about an hour?! My first kit was a Ludwig white marine pearl set that my parents got for me.

RRX: Talk about your current set-up.

RP: Mapex Armory kit. Basic 4 piece set with a Black Panther 5.5” X 14” snare drum…hats, ride and one or two crash cymbals (all Zildjian.) I also use a ‘67 Ludwig blue oyster pearl kit for certain gigs.

RRX: Who do you play with now? In the past?

RP: The gig that gave me a career was playing drums with regional blues great Ernie Williams from 1992 until his passing in 2012.
The current band I’m in is Dealt the Blues which was formed in 2017ish. I also have a side project: Rocky and the Mooseknuckles which plays a couple times a year.
I fill in occasionally with Soul Sky, Nite Train, Donna Tritico Band and Whitewater among others.
Before the “blues bug” bit me, I was in various rock and party/wedding bands. My very first “pro” band was with the Country Travelers playing square dances and country bars etc. I was 14 and they were up in their 30’s.

RRX: You also run a music school, right? Tell me more about that.

RP: I started teaching private lessons in the early 80s at Hilton’s. I had quite a bit of formal training which helped me form my teaching method. I always wanted to start my own place and when gigs were drying up in the early 2000’s, I decided it was time to go for it. In 2005 I found a small space in East Greenbush with two rooms and it grew from there. I moved to my current location in North Greenbush in 2010. My main goal was to put together a teaching staff of all instruments with teachers who are really into education and teach reading, proper technique, etc. and who are positive influences. I also wanted to bring in master classes and workshops with local musicians and national artists which you really don’t get much of around here. We also hold concerts with the kids a couple times a year where we organize them into groups and have them perform on a real stage in a real venue with sound and lights and give them a real feel for performing. This year will be the first one we’ve done since the pandemic, and we plan on holding it at Nanola in June!

RRX: That’s fantastic! Do you play any other instruments? What do you do for fun?

RP: No other instruments
I love Baseball, coffee with friends, listening to music, day trips, art museums, stuff like that.

RRX: If you weren’t a drummer, what would you be doing?

RP: Some kind of driving job or something to do with numbers like accounting…

RRX: Put together your Dream Band, with you on drums.

RP: Travelling Wilburys would be fun!
But, if it’s ala Ringo’s All-Starr Band I would have Levon Helm on one side of me and Ringo on the other, Klaus Voormann (or Duck Dunn) on bass, George Harrison, Leon Russell on piano, Gregg Allman on organ, King Curtis on Sax and led by Elmore James?!

RRX: That would be some band! Anything else that you’d like to add?

RP: I’ve been blessed to make a career in music and teaching music. I was lucky enough to have a dream gig and through that I’ve met and became friends with a lot of local greats and world class musicians, and also got to play some amazing places.

RRX: Well, there you have it! Rocky is not only an accomplished, devoted player, but is also helping set the stage for future musicians. I call that a win for all of us.