Grade 1 newcomers Lomond and Clyde Pipe Band will approach the 2019 season with a revamped practice schedule seeing them relocate a portion of their practices to Perthshire – but there will be no change in the band’s geographical identity or RSPBA branch membership.
At the moment the band are looking at possible venues but they hope to secure something in the city of Perth, accessible to trains and the motorway. The plan is to practice, as a pipe corps, Tuesday in Glasgow and Thursday in Perth, with the drummers remaining in Glasgow, but travelling to Perth occasionally. The bulk of the time spent as a band will be done on a Saturday/Sunday every other weekend in Glasgow until the 2019 season starts.
The band of 21 pipers, nine side drummers, six tenors and a bass are looking to build on the band that helped them gain promotion to G1. P/M David Wilton said: ‘When I was approached by Lomond and Clyde to take over as P/M I was a resident of Glasgow. Along with L/D Allan Craig I accepted the position with a two-year plan – to take the band into Grade 1.
‘During that time I was also appointed P/M of The High School of Dundee band and relocated to my home county of Angus. For the past two years I have been making the two-hour journey to Glasgow for practices two or three times a week. With the increasing demands of both bands, and the recent birth of my daughter, we felt relocating an element of our practices to a more central location would allow me to give more to the band.
‘This move is also a real positive step for us in gaining any potential players who may have found Glasgow too far for practices. I am excited to implement this plan in order to achieve our new goals in Grade 1.’
A spokesman for the band said: ‘The band are very happy about this logistical change to our practice regime. It will allow us to develop further towards our goal of becoming an established Grade 1 pipe band – whilst retaining our local identity and expanding our catchment to the heart of Scotland and the surrounding area.
‘We are delighted that the drive and ambition brought to the band by Pipe Major David Wilton and Leading Drummer Allan Craig will continue for the foreseeable future. This change ensures that their career and family commitments, and not least, the practice commute, will be supported by the band.
‘We have a talented social media team that has been instrumental in promoting the band from drone footage to live Facebook practices. We feel that the band should be accessible to as many people as possible so it makes perfect sense to use technology in this way. The band is much more than the performances on the park and this is something we would like to showcase.’
Recent successes for Lomond & Clyde:
– Placing in the top six at every major championship in G2 in 2016 and 2017.
– Winning 3 of 5 majors in G2 2017 as well as Champion of Champions 2017
– UK and World drum corps champions (G2) 2017
– Promotion to G1 for the first time in the band’s history
– Rebranding with new logo and tartan, made possible by securing a sponsorship from CPR
Point of clarification…In case anyone missed the correction from P/M Iain Donaldson published earlier today, we are happy to repeat that G1 piper Alex Gandy will not play with the G2 City of Dunedin band at the Worlds but will help the band setting up.
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