Colin MacLellan elected to Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame

The Scots Trad Music Association has informed pipes|drums that Colin MacLellan will be inducted into its Hall of Fame for his lifetime of contributions to Traditional Music In Scotland.

MacLellan joins an august list of piping and drumming inductees that includes John D. Burgess, Ian McLellan, Murray Henderson, Bob Nicol, Bob Brown, Jim Kilpatrick, Rochard Parkes, and Donald MacLeod.

MacLellan’s contributions to piping and, thus, Scottish traditional music, are legion. He has taught myriad pipers, many from scratch, and several who have gone on to win some of the most significant awards offered and establish careers in piping. He has also served as a full-time piping instructor at Edinburgh Academy, the College of Piping, and the Glengarry School of Piping & Drumming in Maxville, Ontario.

As an organizer, he helped to resurrect Edinburgh’s Eagle Pipers Society, established the Solo Piping Judges’ Association in the UK, and served as president of the Competing Pipers’ Association for many years.

As a pipe bandsman, he was pipe-major of the Grade 1 Lothian & Borders Police, the Grade 1 Dunvegan Pipe Band and the Grade 2 Glengarry Pipe Band in Ontario, where he lived for more than 20 years.

As a contributor to preserving and promoting historically significant music, he established the Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Trust to honour his famous father’s legacy. The Trust created the Captain John MacLellan Medal (now run by the Eagle Pipers Society) as a means to showcase John MacLellan’s compositions.

He further preserved and promoted Captain John’s music by publishing a collection, helping the Piobaireachd Society include several compositions in their annual Set Tunes lists for the major solo competitions.

In partnership with pipes|drums, he has shared nearly 150 exclusive recordings made by his father, the vast majority of which had never been previously heard.

Colin MacLellan will be officially inducted into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame on December 6th at a gala event in Aberdeen, Scotland. Tickets to the event are available to the public.

Within hours of receiving the news that Colin MacLellan will be inducted into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame, we connected with him for a chat about the honour:

Here’s the text of our conversation, with minor edits for written clarity:

pipes|drums: We’re pleased to have our good friend and frequent contributor Colin R. MacLellan coming to us from Edinburgh. We broke the news that the Scots Trad Music organization will officially induct Colin into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame at their gala celebration on December 6th in Aberdeen. Congratulations on your induction into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame.

Colin MacLellan: Well, thank you very much. It’s a tremendous honour to be inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame and a complete surprise to me.

pipes|drums: You’ve received many awards in your life, and I’m sure you’re going to win a lot more. But where does this rank?

Colin MacLellan: Well, it’s a really, really special sort of thing to get because it’s not just a recognition for playing the pipes or different facets. It’s a recognition of your overall contribution to the art of piping and to the culture of music in Scotland. It’s not an award made for pipers, so it’s something a little bit wider. I’m absolutely overwhelmed to have been inducted into this hall of fame.

“The thing that gives me the greatest satisfaction is teaching people to play the pipes.”

pipes|drums: You have had a lifetime of achievement in piping and contributing to piping. What are you most proud of? It’s a multifaceted career. But what do you think, what gives you the most sense of pride?

Colin MacLellan: I think I’ve been very lucky in my background and the places that I’ve lived, both in Canada and in Scotland. I’ve been able to structure my life around piping by design rather than by accident. And a large part of that has been teaching. Without a shadow of a doubt, if my contribution is to be measured, I’d like to say that the thing that gives me the greatest satisfaction is teaching people to play the pipes.

I’ve been very lucky in my lifetime to teach probably hundreds of people to play the pipes. I take great pleasure from going to all the different piping events and seeing how these people have progressed, and some of them come on to extremely special careers themselves. It gives me a tremendous kick when I see students of mine who have actually talked to play succeed themselves.

pipes|drums: And Cameron Drummond is one of the elite players in the world. He started before you took him on, but the lion’s share of instruction comes from you. And recently, Brodie Watson-Massey has picked off the Gold Medal as well at a very young age.

Colin MacLellan: It’s just the cap that these fellows are doing the things they’re doing. They come to the house here, and Cameron’s been coming since he was 12 or 13, and Brody’s been coming for probably about 10 years now, and several others of that standard.

It’s fantastic for me because I get to help them and pass on what I know to them. I have them here in the house, and it’s not an exaggeration to say they’ve become like family to me, and they also provide me with some terrific piping recitals regularly.

pipes|drums: I can imagine! And not only that, you recently came back to competing in solo competitions after many years away, and you’re actually competing against your pupils. That must be great fun.

Colin MacLellan: That’s a great thing. That was quite unexpected, too. I started to play very regularly in the house every day for a couple of years. I had been 17 years judging, and I realized that if nobody heard me again, I’d probably throw the pipes in the box and never play again. My wife, Jenny, told me, Why don’t you enter a couple of events?

And so I did that, and I started to play in competitions again. I thought, “Well, I’m just going to play, have a tune, and enjoy it.” And one of the great things that happened is Cameron, about a year ago, was talking to me and said, “Right, boss, are we going up against each other in these formal winners’ competitions now?” And I said, “Well, do you want me to?” And he says, “Absolutely!” So, it’s great.

But I won’t be doing it for very long, and nobody will have to tell me when it’s time to stop. I won’t be wasting the judge’s time!

“It’s an honour of the greatest degree. My piping heroes are all on that list. It’s a fabulous list of pipers, and even to be considered for it is one of the greatest honours of my lifetime, because I’ve learned so much from listening to and knowing many of them.”

pipes|drums: Looking at the list of inductees in the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame, it’s quite a list, starting with John Burgess, R.U. Brown, Bob Nicol, Donald MacLeod and Iain MacFadyen, and it goes on and on. For anyone who knows you, you’d be very humbled to be in that company. It must be something.

Colin MacLellan: For me, it’s an honour of the greatest degree. My piping heroes are all on that list. It’s a fabulous list of pipers, and even to be considered for it is one of the greatest honours of my lifetime, because I’ve learned so much from listening to and knowing many of them.

And so, yes, it’s one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me.

pipes|drums: Well, congratulations again. We can look at your career – certainly your performances and winning competitions – but also your running of pipe bands, the compilation of music, preserving your father’s terrific legacy, which we’ve been honoured to do with you over the past few years with The Castle Recordings, your formation of the Solo Piping Judges Association, your leadership of the Competing Pipers Association . . .  on and on. And I’m sure there are many more achievements to come. Congratulations once again, Colin.

Colin MacLellan: That’s very kind of you, and thanks very much for having me. Thank you.