Steven McWhirter wins 2024 World Solo Drumming Championship

Glasgow – October 19, 2024 – After two gruelling rounds and three plays, Inveraray & District Lead-Drummer Steven McWhirter gained the 2024 World Solo Drumming Champion title against 31 other elite pipe band snare drummers at Glasgow Caledonian University.

It was McWhirter’s twelfth WSDC win, now only four victories away from tying Jim Kilpatrick’s record. 2023 winner Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia was second and also won the new John Hughes Memorial Quaich, named in honour of the RSPBA leader who died suddenly this year.

McWhirter and McQuillan actually tied for the trophy. The tie was broken by McWhirter’s higher placing in the MSR event, which he won. McQuillan won the Hornpipe & Jig, and each had a third-prize in the event they didn’t win.

Perhaps due to the high standard of the performances, several of the competitors in the final had wide disparities between judges, with a nine-place difference in one instance.

The contest was also the culmination of a new league format comprising eight championships held in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. Kerr McQuillan won the overall title.

Overall (12 competed)
1st Steven McWhirter, Inveraray & District (Scotland)
2nd Kerr McQuillan, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland)
3rd William Glenholmes, Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland)
4th Gareth McLees, Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland)
5th Jake Jørgensen, ScottishPower (Scotland)
6th Blair Brown (Canada)
7th Alex Buchanan, Field Marshal Montgomery
8th Steven Shedden, Hawthorn (Australia)
9th Blair Beaton (USA)
10th Eli Fugate, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland)
11th Cameron Lawson, Inveraray & District (Scotland)
12th Glen Creighton, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland)

MSR
1st Steven McWhirter (1,1,1,1)
2nd Gareth McLees (2,2,2,2)
3rd Kerr McQuillan (3,3,3,3)
4th William Glenholmes (5,4,4,4)
5th Blair Brown (4,8,6,7)
6th Jake Jørgensen (9,9,7,5)
7th Eli Fugate (8,7,8,9)
8th Alex Buchanan (6,11,10,6)
9th Steven Shedden (10,6,9,11)
10th Cameron Lawson (11,12,5,8)
11th Glenn Creighton (7,10,11,10)
12th Blair Beaton (12,5,12,12)
Judges: David Brown, Arthur Cook, Gordon Parkes, Keith Orr

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Kerr McQuillan (1,1,2,1)
2nd William Glenholmes (2,4,1,4)
3rd Steven McWhirter (6,2,3,2)
4th Jake Jørgensen (4,3,4,3)
5th Gareth McLees (9,7,5,6)
6th Blair Beaton (3,6,7,12)
7th Steven Shedden (5,5,8,11)
8th Alex Buchanan (8,8,6,8)
9th Blair Brown (10,9,9,5)
10th Glenn Creighton (7,12,10,10)
11th Cameron Lawson (12,10,12,7)
12th Eli Fugate (11,11,11,9)
Judges: Gordon Brown, Allan Craig, Adrian Hoy, Brian Martin

Also competing Scott Birrell, Canterbury Caledonian Society (New Zealand); Calum Burns, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); Davy Clark, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); Derek Cooper, Ulster Scottish (USA); Scott Coyle, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); Stephen Creighton, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland); Ashley Fyffe, Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland); David Henderson, Police Scotland & Federation (Scotland); Aaron Jess, Ravara (Northern Ireland); Ryan King, Police Scotland Fife (Scotland); Conor Lawlor, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland); Eric MacNeill, City of Dunedin (USA); Reid Maxwell, Simon Fraser University (Canada); Ewan McDonald, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); Cameron McKail, Peel Regional Police (Canada); Daniel Mulcahy, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland); Fionn Murphy, St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland); Matthew Shaw, Ravara (Northern Ireland) Chloe Taylor, ScottishPower (Scotland); Rachel Thom, Inveraray & District (Scotland).

World Solo Tenor Drumming Championship
1st Jordan Bailie, Inveraray & District (Scotland)
2nd Jill Watson, Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland)
3rd Cameron Sinclair, Police Fife Scotland (Scotland)
4th Jamie Alfred, City of Dunedin (USA)
5th Lauren Tomson, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (Scotland)
6th Jamie Blair, Ravara (Northern Ireland)
Judges: Trevor Buckley, Gary Smyth, Naill West