South West of Scotland Piping & Drumming Academy held their first Juvenile Solo Piping & Drumming competition in the new venue of Lockerbie Academy, on Saturday past, 29th September, reports Andrew McCartney. There was a good entry, considering that this is a fledgling competition, with around 60 performances for the judges to assess. The judges on the day were Callum Beaumont, and  Matt Wilson (piping), Norrie Thomson (snare) and Ashleigh Lamberton…

P/M Stuart Liddell of Inveraray & District Pipe Band has joined the judging panel for the composing competition for a tune to commemorate war hero John Cruickshank VC.  Other members of the panel are P/M Ian McLellan, formerly of Strathclyde Police Pipe Band and a winner of 12 World titles, P/M Richard Parkes of Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band who also has 12 Worlds titles to his credit, and Piping Press…

My name is Jason Briscoe – I’m a piper with over 25 years of Grade 1 pipe band experience. I’ve been fortunate to play in some of the best bands in the world, most recently Scottish Power, and now I’m hungry to pass my years of experience and expertise on and prepare the next generation of pipe bands for the world stage. Say hello to The High Note – a…

By Kevin McGlynn A chanter is the only playable part that is left of an instrument known to folklorists as the ‘Faery Pipes of Kinlochmoidart’. It is normally kept in a special case in the West Highland Museum in Fort William in Lochaber. The ‘enchanted’ chanter, reputedly played at Bannockburn in 1314, made a rare appearance at a clan gathering this summer, the World Gathering of MacIntyres. It took place in Oban and Taynuilt,…