Archive
Twelve of the top amateur Grade 1 pipers from across North America will conclude their 2011 competition year on November 19th at the sixteenth annual George Sherriff Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition . . .
After a hiatus whenceupon he journeyed to sample the wears of Savile Row, Fifth Avenue and Sauchiehall Street, The Style Guy is back in fighting form, ready to take on your most challenging queries of Highland taste. Like a bite-size dark chocolate Bounty, The Style Guy has a dark and […]
In this the final installment of our February 2000 interview with Jim Hutton, the late drumming luminary discusses his views on the World Pipe Band Championships, the RSPBA, teaching and his outlook on his own and the pipe band world’s future. For more than 50 years, Jim Hutton was a primary figure in pipe band drumming, playing for several decades alongside the legendary Alex Duthart in Shotts & Dykehead, Invergordon Distillery and the Edinburgh City Police. Hutton was a link with the formative years of pipe band drumming, and an important figure in the Lanarkshire area’s growth as a nurturing ground for pipe band snare drummers. In this final part he also discusses the “disease” that is pipe banding, and the fact that the best leaders are not always the best players.
The fifth annual Balmoral Classic U.S. Junior Solo Amateur Invitational Championships saw Alexander Schiele of Snohomish, Washington, and Petey Lowrie of Ohio take the overall prizes in the piping and snare drumming sections, respectively . . .
The first round the British Columbia Pipers Association’s Professional Knockout was a testament to the success of teaching programs in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, with two specially invited amateur pipers qualified against a strong field of professional pipers for the next round. Joe Stewart of Seattle and Scott Wood of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, showed that they already can hold their own in the top solo grade by going through to the next round. Alexander Schiele of Snohomish, Washington, was . . .
Iain MacDonald reviews the three-disc collector’s box set of “On The Day: The Story of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band” from John McDonald Productions
After 30 years as Pipe-Major of the Grade 3 City of Dunedin Pipe Band of Florida, Sandy Keith will officially hand over leadership to Iain Donaldson at the organization’s annual . . .
Former Leading-Drummer John Moneagle is once again back in charge of the Grade 1 Vale of Atholl Pipe Band’s drum section. Moneagle’s appointment to the role was made official . . .
Joe Stewart of Seattle was named overall champion at the 2011 George Sherriff Memorial Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition, held in downtown Hamilton at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church. Stewart gained the top prize, which included $800 towards travel to a competition and a set of pipes, by placing fist in the MSR and 6/8 Marches and fifth in the Piobaireachd . . .
Inspired by the success of Edinburgh’s Eagle Pipers Society, a keen group of players in Northern Ireland has started the Blackthorn . . .
Eighteen years have passed since his second book of music, and now The Antipodes Collection Volume 3 has gone to print, according to compiler and composer Mark Saul of . . .
The death of Alasdair Gillies on August 27th, 2011, is still very much a wound that may never fully heal. While the piping world lost one of its most accomplished and talented performers in its long history, the many friends of Alasdair Gillies lost something much more, and the pain of his passing may lessen with time, it will never completely go away. It is difficult to put into words this absence, and an “appreciation” may never really be fully possible. We have asked several individuals from our community who may have known Alasdair Gillies a little better, or in simply a slightly different way, to assemble a few thoughts about him. Rather than aggregating these memories into a single piece, we have chosen to publish each separately over a few months. The second in our “Remembering Alasdair Gillies” series is from Willie McCallum of Bearsden, Scotland.
The leadership of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario will be at stake at the organization’s . . .
Michael Grey reviews Allan MacDonald’s second book of bagpipe music, “The Moidart Collection II, An Dara Ceud (The Second Hundred),” which also includes a CD with every tune performed by MacDonald.
We continue our publication of a February 2000 interview with Jim Hutton, one of history’s important figures in pipe band drumming. The original interview had to be edited down to accommodate the now-antequated limitations on print publishing, and we provide the complete text here. Jim Hutton passed away in June of this year at the age of 75. For almost 70 years he led an incredibly active life in pipe bands as a player, teacher and adjuodicator. In Part 2 Hutton discusses the state of drumming at the time, the impact of players like Jim Kilpatrick on the scene, and several of the young bands and players of the time that he predicted would go on to great things. Exclusive to pipes|drums subscribers.
We are sad to report the passing of the renowned pipe band drummer John Kerr on October 1, 2011, aged 82. Born in Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Kerr learned his snare drumming craft in an area already rich with pipe band drumming talent and tradition. He started at the age of […]