Archive
The annual Duncan Johnstone Memorial Solo Piping Competition saw father and son Iain and Jonathon Simpson win the overall trophies in the C-Grade and B-Grade events, respectively, at the National Piping Centre. There was a large entry, including several travelling from North America.
We revisit our 10,000-word discussion from three decades back
Pipe-Major John “Jock” McLellan of Dunoon is regarded universally as one of Highland piping’s greatest composers, and 150 years after his birth, events are in the works to celebrate his legacy throughout 2025. The creator of such classics as “The Road to the Isles,” “South Hall,” “The Highland Brigade at […]
The Grade 3 Commonwealth Pipes & Drums of Massachusetts has been told they must compete in Grade 2 to participate in RSPBA-sanctioned contests this year. The band was surprised to receive the news in a letter from RSPBA Business Manager Rachel Gillespie dated March 10, 2025. “I was a little […]
I first encountered Bill in 1980 at Maxville as a fanboy 16-year-old, asking him to autograph one of my Piobaireachd Society Collection books, and, like a rock star, he kindly obliged. He was the closest thing to a rock star in piping, and I’m sure that image suited him just […]
Brave New Music is a chronological biography of the fine young piper, classical musician, and electronic artist Bennett, who died in 2005 at 33. With Bennett’s premature death, I was worried this would be a difficult read. Within the first few pages, I realized that I was much more likely to turn the pages while laughing or smiling and thinking, “Ah, so that’s how, why, when or where he did that . . . ” than feel anything close to gloom.
Cameron Bonar was the winner of the ninth annual Boney Music Memorial Invitational Competition & Recital held again at the Seaforth Armoury, playing against Nick Hudson, Houston; Zephan Knichel, Surrey, British Columbia; and Craig Sutherland, Perth, Scotland.
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has announced the “World Youth Pipe Band Championship” that will take place at the World Championships on Friday, August 15th. The news was made public at around 5 pm GMT on Friday, March 14th, with no more details than that. However, sources within the […]
John Cairns loves a detailed plan. Anyone who has seen his in-depth Bagpipe Solutions series of instructional manuals will recognize the military precision of his personality. Cairns recently announced he would step down as pipe-major of the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band at the end of the 2025 competition season. […]
For the first time in its 142-year history, the Grade 1 Police Scotland & Federation will sit out a competition season. Members of the band met to discuss plans, and decided that calling off the season was the most practical decision as the group continues to search for a suitable […]
The escalating trade war between the United States and Canada has created a groundswell of patriotic resistance by Canadians after their southern neighbours’ president initiated the battle with their historically most significant trading partner. A “buy Canadian” movement has included pressures to resist travelling to the United States, to put […]
Since 2020, the Western United States Pipe Band Association has seen no fewer than 12 Celtic Festivals and Highland Games vanish due to poor attendance, high venue costs, and a scarcity of volunteers as prevailing factors. As with many worldwide, some of the remaining event organizers are considering hiring a […]
Winning both the MSR and Hornpipe & Jig events, Blair Brown from Grade 1 St. Thomas Alumni was the overall winner of the 2025 Pacific Rim Solo Snare Drumming Championship against eight other contestants.
A record 94 bands from 144 schools competed at the annual Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships at the William McIlvanney Campus. Sgoil Bhàgh a’Chaisteil from the Isle of Barra won the Freestyle and £2500, the top prize at the event.
The annual Redding Solo Piping Competitions were held over two days at the Red Lion Hotel. Gavin Guidotti of Medford, Oregon, won the Grade aggregate prize, Grade 2 overall going to Logan Gorsuch, Grade 3 to Katherine Strausser, and the Grade 4 aggregate trophy to Emma Thomsen. The Fred Rutledge Memorial Piper of the Day was Everett Johnson, who won three light music first prizes in Grade 4—the first competition of his young competitive career.
For International Women’s Day 2025, pipes|drums wanted to hear from pipers and drummers worldwide. Piper Eilidh MacDonald coordinated the event, and nearly 50 players of all ages and abilities contributed videos. Throughout March 8, 2025, their thoughts were carried as stories and reels on pipes|drums’ Instagram and Facebook accounts. To […]