Bruce Gandy made the point to me when he was playing for the Piobaireachd Society the other night that it doesn’t cost much to upgrade video and sound recording equipment – and for those competing online it was well worth the investment. Bruce had done so, and his performance of Jimmy McIntosh’s Salute to Andrew Carnegie was beautiful, and clear as a bell. If you have an old computer with…

The promoters of the Balmoral Schools in the USA have sent this: ‘Save the Dates – July 18-23! This summer, the Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming will come to you online, with a wider variety of classes, more guest instructors, more one-on-one tutoring, and plenty of other exciting programming. ‘An all-new Drumming Program is in the works, with 2021 guest drumming instructors to be announced shortly.  ‘The fee for…

The Music Board of the RSPBA have issued the following: Promoters of the Scottish and World Pipe Band Championships are considering the March Scottish Government announcement on the phased exit from lockdown, particularly the criteria that needs to be met by the events industry as they look at the viability of running the event.The Music Board have revised the playing requirements for remaining Championships for the 2021 season as a…

I have just finished reading ‘Over the Chidwin to Lochaber’ and found it a very interesting read into the life of this piping legend. I was particular interested in Evan’s time at the Liverpool Scottish. My piping tutor, Joe Massey, gets a mention in book.   Joe was Evan’s Pipe Sgt during his time at PMaj of the Liverpool Scottish and he would often recall stories of him and Evan….

Kevin Reilly, the new Chairman of the RSPBA, has spoken of his confidence that the Association will be able to survive another year of pandemic. ‘I am absolutely confident that we will be here and ready to go again in 2022,’ he said. ‘I have known better times,’ he said, ‘but I have also known worse. It was not so long ago that the RSPBA was almost bankrupt.’ His comments…