New Internet Piping & Pipe Band Radio Show/ Worlds 2017 Final Gallery of Pix

Robert Wallace

7 years ago

A new internet radio piping programme, The Piping Hour, has been launched in the US. The host is piper Steve Rooklidge, the man behind the Shasta Piping Society in California, sponsors of the popular piobaireachd composing competition.
The show is available here on KKRN with tomorrow (14/2/18) the first run. One of the first tunes to be heard is Hugh MacCallum playing the Lament for Mary MacLeod.
The station’s mission statement reads: ‘KKRN FM, is a volunteer-based, listener-supported radio station fostering positive social change and healthy communities by entertaining, informing and educating through diverse music, culture, news, and public affairs programming.’

Steve writes: ‘The first show can be streamed at http://kkrn.org/ Just scroll down to The Piping Hour. I want to make an effort to air music from the post-war period to today. Main focus is on piobaireachd, with 2 – 4 played during the hour, but also air the Gaelic song recordings from the last 30 years that are rarely heard, including some archive materials that may not have the best sound quality but certainly should inform any player of the music. I am very thankful for the chance to bring some of the more obscure artists to the airwaves.

‘I’m trying for an eclectic mix that will keep the listener guessing and hopefully pleasantly surprised. Michael Cusack’s Park Piobaireachd in a Mary O’Hara sandwich! I hope this show adds to the offerings of great programs by Gary West, Rab Lennox, Mark Wilson, and now Catriona MacNeil [BBC Gaelic Radio’s piping programme ‘Crunluath’]. I will be reserving a segment of the hour where pipers around the world can submit their work for play on the air. On schedule already are some of the original pieces submitted for last year’s piobaireachd composer contest, and we hope to have many more available for broadcast after April 1st!’

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Pipe band people, we know the weather is dreich; we know you are struggling with all that new band music but remember it will all be worth it in the end and spring is just around the corner!

Please note some of these dates are liable to change. Check with the RSPBA before travelling

Download the above guide to the 2018 band season here – all the majors and the minor contests too. To get you in the mood for the new season here is our final gallery of pictures from the 2017 Worlds:[wds id=”45″]

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