By L/D Arthur Cook Following on from recent articles regarding females in the piping and pipe band world, the Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band have recruited a new bass drummer and additional tenor drummers for the 2019 season. This now gives the band its first all female bass section comprising of a bass and seven tenor drummers. This may be the first all female bass section in Grade 1?  With…

The Pipers’ & Pipe Band Society of Ontario is pleased to announce the first annual Silver Medal Qualifier contest open to CPA members with a B grading to be held in Georgetown, Ontario (exact location TBD) on Friday, June 7, 2019 at 7:00pm. This qualifier event will provide the winner with entry into the Silver Medal events at both the Argyllshire Gathering and the Northern Meeting in 2020. In addition to the Silver…

The trip to Australia is drawing to a close and the only negative thing to report is the rather weird competition scenario that I heard happened recently in the state of Victoria. Pipers were invited to compete but without a judge, the performances recorded (high quality mics etc) and sent off to Canada and Scotland for adjudication. Presumably everyone was notified of the results later. I was so nonplussed by…

After 38 years of owning Mister Antony, Antony Mistofsky, has retired, the company has announced. In a statement they say, ‘The name ‘MISTER ANTONY’ has been synonymous with Inverness raincapes since the early 80s. Bandsmen and women worldwide wear Mister Antony raincape products. ‘For many years the Mister Antony  Standard lightweight raincape and matching pouch found great popularity with the majority of pipe bands. ‘It became the standard raincape kit…

Three bands were awarded £500 from the RSPBA’s National Juvenile Pipe Band Fund recently. They were Sgoil Lionacleit from the Western Isles, Bucksburn and District from Aberdeenshire and West Lothian Schools. The fund was established a few years ago now to help youth bands with their expenses for travel and teaching and it continues to be in healthy state with 1% of RSPBA revenue added each year. It should be…