Dowco Triumph Street adds to drum section with addition of Hunter and Savage

Snare drummers Michael Hunter and Alan Savage have reunited with former band-mate Andre Tessier, joining the Grade 1 Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band of Vancouver. The three drummers last played together in the 78thn Fraser Highlanders in 1995.

Savage played with the 78th Frasers from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s, playing under Reid Maxwell. He was a member of the corps when the band won the 1987 World Pipe Band Championship and World Pipe Band Drum Corps prizes. He went on to be Lead-Drummer of the Grade 1 Toronto Police from 1997 until 2002. Since then he has not competed, focusing instead on his family and his legal career in Toronto.

Originally from Edinburgh, Hunter played with the Grade 1 Polkemmet Colliery Pipe Band in the 1980s and then Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia, both under Lead-Drummer Jim Kilpatrick. He was Lead-Drummer of the 78th Frasers from 1997 until 2002. His corps won the Grade 1 Medley section at the 1998 World Championships. Like Savage, since 2002 he has not competed, dedicating his time to his family and career as a mechanical engineer.

“The addition of these drummers propels our band to a new level while providing our younger drummers with a unique opportunity to benefit from their considerable experience and musical know-how,” Tessier commented. “I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to play alongside drummers of their calibre, to draw on their experience as lead drummers and most of all, to rekindle our friendships.”

Dowco Triumph Street also recently added former House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead and L.A. Scots snare drummer, Eli Fugate, to its ranks.

The band qualified for the Grade 1 Final at the 2010 World Championships, finishing twelfth overall, and plans to return to Glasgow for the 2011 World’s.