New Album from Lewis Piper James MacKenzie

Publicist Katie MacKenzie has sent this: I thought you might be interested in hearing about James Duncan Mackenzie’s second album which is being released next month. The album is called, Sròmos, after the abandoned settlement on the banks of Loch Seaforth on Lewis. Sròmos was one of many townships cleared in the 19th century to prioritise land for sheep farming and deer forest. [The album] Sròmos consists entirely of self-penned melodies, led by…

PP Ed's Blog: WW2 Pipes/ Piobaireachd Society Conference/ CoP Lecture

A couple of weeks ago we highlighted a request from RSPBA Vice Chairman John Hughes for information about a set of pipes presented to his uncle, PoW William Chisholm, during WW2. The pipes had a plaque on them which indicated they may have arrived in Germany via the Piobaireachd Society. We asked if any other readers had similar sets. I was pleased to hear from Iain Duncan, the former archivist…

Johnstone Pipe Band Concert Preview/ Muirheads Worlds 1969 Picture

Stuart McCallum of McCallum Bagpipes has sent this re Saturday’s gala concert by Johnstone Pipe Band: ‘The band are delighted to have been invited to perform on the main stage at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on Saturday the 20th January as part of the city’s 2018 Celtic Connections festival. ‘It’s the first major concert for the band under Pipe Major Keith Bowes. All three of the competing bands in the Johnstone…

Winter Storm Closing Concert and Weekend Review

With a sell out crowd achieved the day before, the venue was packed for the annual gala concert featuring celebrated soloists, mini bands, Highland dancers and all held together by Ken Eller, the long-standing master of ceremonies, writes our Special Correspondent. In a nice touch, the students of St Thomas Episcopal, from Houston, Texas, kicked off proceedings, led by former World Champion Drum Major, Jason Paguio of the SFU organisation….

History: The Late John MacDougall and his Family's 150 Years of Piping

We are grateful to the Aberdeen Evening Express newspaper for publishing the family history of one of the most gifted pipers of the post-WW2 era, the late John MacDougall. The paper reveals interesting details about John’s past and how the family tradition is being carried on. It is headlined ‘Piping Through the Ages’. The above picture shows John MacDougall as a boy piping with his father in the Bucksburn Pipe Band….