About Me
With over 25 years of experience behind the drums, Bill Cioce has been creating his own unique musical destiny. Making a strong name for himself in the greater Cleveland area, he is known as one of the top sought after drummers for over the last decade. His musical education encompasses the influences of drum corp., marching band, orchestra, show band, & jazz band, Where in 1985, he received the outstanding musician award at the Clevelands Tri-C Jazz Fest in which one of the judges was drumming legend Louis Bellson. Since his education, Bill has been using his drum talents with numerous local artists, groups, and situations. With ventures to & from New York City in the late 80’s while under management by Peter Leeds (Blondie/ Debra Harry) to do recordings at New York’s Hit Factory. This started to open the doors for the future. Shortly after that Bill was doing independent roadwork that took him across the country playing from coast to coast. In the early 90’s Bill was actively involved in numerous recording & live projects playing in high profile shows sharing the stage with the likes of: Blue Oyster Cult, Humble Pie, Warrant, Sass Jordan, Hurricane Alice, Danger Danger, Lillian Axe, Steel Heart, Great White, Sweet F.A., Saraya, Enuff-z-nuff, Dangerous Toys, Vixen, L.A. Guns, Arch Angels, Quiet Riot, Jason Bonham, Izzy Stradlin (Guns-n-Roses), Rich Patrick (Filter/Nine Inch Nails) and others…Bill has also been for many years & still active as a private instructor, teaching his craft to many over the years from beginners/intermediate to advanced players. Along side of his teaching & live performances, Bill has done an assortment of jingles & commercial work, adapting him for today’s computer age of recording.
Happily married to his wife Angie & with three kids Austin, Steve & Savannah, Bill enjoys drumming for his worship & praise bands and as of 2000 Bill has been providing the solid backbeat for International Guitarist Neil Zaza. In 2003, Bill performed overseas with Neil in Busan, South Korea for their International Rock Festival. The line up included Doug Johns on bass guitar and is slated to do an Asian Tour in the fall of 2006 for the Guitar Stars Tour where Bill will also be drumming for guitarists Michael Angelo & Gary Hoey with dates in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, & Taipei just for starters. Here in the States Bill provided Neil with an amazing show & solid back beat as they recently wrapped up their 3rd. annual Christmas performance called One Silent Night at Cleveland’s Allen Theater located in Playhouse Square to a nearly sold out audience. With multiple live performances under their belts, together they’re currently recording their fourth c.d. where Bill will be sharing tracks with such accomplished artists as Steve Smith (Journey), Michael Anthony (VanHalen), Keith Emerson (E.L.P.), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) Bobby Rock, Peter Frampton, and Edgar Winter. Bill will be attending the January 2006 N.A.M.M. show in L.A. & slated to do some performances with Neil Zaza & bass player Doug Johns. Let's see what tomorrow brings!
