World Solo Drumming Review: Inveraray’s McWhirter Takes the Blue Ribbon Event

Some say he believes in Santa, others that he is one and the same….even more that he thinks SLOT is for coins in Vegas and Shotts his number of chances. All we know is he’s called MacStig……….. In what crowns an exceptional year for lead drummer Steven McWhirter, he added his seventh consecutive, and eighth overall, World Solo title to a fantastic year for Inveraray & District Pipe Band. Moreover,…

PP Ed’s Blog: Andrew Bonar Appreciation/ World Drumming/ Florida Academy/ Juvenile Contests

Robert MacNeill, SFU band manager and President of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association, has been in touch to inform us of an evening to celebrate the life of Andrew Bonar who died so tragically this week. Robert says: ‘Thank you for your article on Andrew Bonar’s passing. Your inclusion of the thoughts of Terry Lee was very insightful on how Boney was such a magician with music. ‘I remember him…

Review: The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Collection of Bagpipe Music

What a year it has been for Argyll piping: Inveraray winning the Worlds, Alasdair Henderson taking the Northern Meeting Gold Medal – and now a superb collection of bagpipe music courtesy the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. The book represents a 200 year long musical journey of one of the iconic Scottish regiments, perhaps no longer with the identity of yesteryear but with a corpus of pipe music which will ensure…

South East Asia Pipe Band Championships/ Chris Terry, South Africa

In a new development, Pipe Bands Australia (PBA) are to canvas support for creation of a South-East Asia Pipe Band Championship. The move follows discussion at the recent PBA biennial national conference. Australia and New Zealand have promoted a South Pacific Championship for almost two decades, the event alternating between countries every three years in conjunction with national titles. The formal agreement ended with this year’s South Pacific and New Zealand…

World Solo Drumming Preview and New Events at Balmoral Classic

World Solo Drumming & International Juvenile Tenor Solo Competition… Choking on his Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, MacStig was taken aback by the sheer volume of entrants for the Adult snare qualifiers as reported on PP. The conclusion must be that snare drumming is in great health and the increased numbers in snare lines in the upper grades (10-12 is now normal), is well reflected in the sheer scale of entries for…