Patrick Berkery is a Philadelphia-based freelance drummer and writer who has toured and recorded with a wide range of artists including the War on Drugs (he appears on the band's last three studio records: 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore, the Grammy-winning 2017 album A Deeper Understanding, and 2014’s Lost in the Dream), Strand of Oaks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Pernice Brothers, Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding), Danielson, Peter Matthew Bauer (ex-Walkmen), Bird Streets, the Bigger Lovers, Mazarin, the Photon Band, I Was a King, New Radiant Storm King, Cliff Hillis, Eliza Hardy Jones, and more.
He's performed everywhere from Tallahassee to Tokyo, gigging at scuzzy rock clubs G.G. Allin would’ve thought twice about playing, hallowed venues like New York's Carnegie Hall, and internationally renowned music festivals like All Tomorrow's Parties, Austin City Limits, Australia's traveling Harvest Fest, and Spain's Benicassim festival.
As the house drummer for Stace's Cabinet of Wonders variety shows in New York, Berkery has played behind actor/comedian Fred Armisen, actor/musician Michael Shannon, Tony-award winning playwright/musician Anais Mitchell, author Rick Moody, and musicians such as Graham Parker, Ted Leo, G.E. Smith, Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies, Dan Zanes, Juliana Hatfield, Rhett Miller, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Kat Edmonson, Steve Forbert and Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus.
By day, Berkery works for Pennsylvania-centric news website The Keystone as an associate editor. Prior to joining the Keystone in 2021, he worked in the marketing and communications department at La Salle University, after spending 12 years a web content editor for GateHouse Media, where he created and managed sports, news, entertainment and lifestyle content for three websites of three suburban Philadelphia daily newspapers.
In addition, Berkery was a contributing writer for Modern Drummer magazine for 15 years, writing cover stories and features on many of his drumming heroes like Stan Lynch, Hal Blaine, Mick Fleetwood, James Gadson, Martin Chambers, Pete Thomas, Alex Van Halen, Jay Bellerose, Max Weinberg, and more. His writing has also appeared on Salon, RollingStone.com, Philadelphia Weekly, and in the Philadelphia Inquirer.