BBC Radio Scotland announces ‘Piping Sounds’ starting April 8th

As expected, BBC Radio Scotland has now formally announced that a replacement program for the long-running “Pipeline” program will start on the night of April 8th at the exact same 9-10pm GMT slot that its predecessor held.

“Piping Sounds” will be hosted initially by Micheal Steele, with additional hosts coming in from time to time.

In an official statement, the public broadcaster said, “[This] reflects the shifting pattern of the audience and come as part of the overarching plan to transform the BBC in to a digital first organization following a frozen licence fee. While it is important to maintain a strong, relevant linear service, spend needs to move into digital programming to respond to the change in audience consumption habits. The changes . . . provides the opportunity to refresh . . . piping . . . on Radio Scotland and across all platforms.”

The organization also announced similar changes to long-running jazz and classical programs.

The statement added that Piping Sounds will “be dedicated to showcasing the best in piping music from Scotland and around globe. It will be presented by a rotation of four presenters each in turn celebrating the music of the pipes. Each presenter will bring their own unique experiences of and insights to, the music.”

The new program will be made by the producers who put together Pipeline’s Gaelic counterpart, “Crunluath,” on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and “will be a specially curated English speaking version of the show.”

Steele, Henderson and Murray are multi-instrumentalist exponents of Celtic folk. Steele was a semi-finalist in the 2018 Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year and a former member of then Grade 2 Johnstone in the 2010s. He is the grand-nephew of the late Donald Morrison, one of the top competing solo Highland pipers of the 1960s and ’70s and composer of several popular tunes, including “The Hills of South Uist” and “Donald, Willie and his Dog.”

It is not known if the new program will include live in-studio or on-location recordings, which the previous program was renowned for over the 100 years it was broadcast in various iterations.

The status of the live and recorded broadcasts of the World Pipe Band Championships is also not known.