Archive
To say Kerr McQuillan has had a great year would be a considerable understatement. In 2023, since taking on the leading-drummer role with Grade 1 Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia of Bathgate, Scotland, he’s already achieved things at age 19 that only very few musicians have in a lifetime. Start with winning the UK Pipe Band Championship in June – the first time the band had attained that title. Follow that with high prizes at the next two major championships, and then, of course, achieving the 2023 World Pipe Band Championship at Glasgow Green on August 19th, the first time in Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia’s 50-year history that they captured the big prize.
Because they have not done it, they can’t appreciate it, so they treat the competitors with a cavalier, it-doesn’t-matter attitude.
The City of Brechin Pipe Band has weathered many hard times over its 145 years of existence, but nothing quite like what it experienced last week. On Thursday, October 19th, more than 200 millimetres of rain hit the town of Brechin in Angus in northeast Scotland. That’s more rain than […]
After the success of the first edition of the Ardmore Cup in Ardmore, Ireland, the invitational solo piping contest will return to the quiet Waterford village on February 24, 2024, with a full slate of top-flight contestants. On tap for next year’s event: Chris Earls, Arklow, Ireland Angus MacColl, Benderloch, […]
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association announced the incorrect result for the adult section of the 2023 World Solo Snare Drumming Championship held on October 21st in Glasgow. At the event, St. Laurence O’Toole Leading-Drummer Stephen Creighton was announced as finishing sixth overall but then published as fifth on the […]
After a semi-final round of 30 total and five qualifying competitions during the year at various locations, Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the 2023 World Pipe Band Snare Drumming Championship, held at Glasgow Caledonian University and staged by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association and Glasgow Life. The Final comprised 12 contestants, six from each of the Semi-Final groups.
After the extraordinary and confusing exclusion of piping judge Nat Russell’s results from the Grade 1 MSR competition on Friday, August 18th, at the 2023 World Pipe Band Championships, several pipe band associations are considering rules or policies to prepare for such an eventuality. While the Royal Scottish Pipe Band […]
Kevin R. Blandford Memorial of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Saratoga, Calfornia’s Silicon Valley won the Grade 3 Medley and MSR events, respectively, against a field of two other bands at the annual Seaside Highland Games in sunny Southern California. The Cameron Highlanders of San Diego won Grade 4 on ensemble preference over Long Beach, while University of California Riverside won the Grade 5 competition. Upland Highland was initially second on Saturday but was disqualified for not meeting the minimum numbers.
As long as there has been piping and drumming, the art has always endured, even risen above, during wartime. The Grade 4 Sons of Holyland & District of Nazareth’s members are persevering through the conflict and hardship that’s escalated over the last few weeks, which all hope can be resolved […]
A total of 51 of the globe’s best adult pipe band drummers will vie for a 2023 World Solo Drumming Championship title on Saturday, October 21st, at Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, Scotland, as part of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s biggest solo competition of the year. The adult […]
Members of Grade 4 Sons of Holyland & District of Nazareth are reportedly safe amid the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7th. Following inquiries from several pipes|drums readers expressing concern for the band members, we contacted the group. “Yes, we are safe, and we appreciate your concerns about the […]
The annual Royal National Mòd (An Comunn Gàidhealach) was staged at Paisley Town Hall, and Roddy MacLeod of Glasgow won both of the top events for pipers graded Premier and A by the Competing Pipers Association. Angus MacPhee of Inverness and Bradley Parker of Milngavie, Scotland, won the B-Grade Piobaireachd and MSR, respectively, and Bannockburn, Scotland’s Arran Green scooped up both firsts in the events for pipers ages 16 to 18.
Grade 1 Police Scotland Fife have added top solo piper and reedmaker Greig Canning to their front rank as the band’s new pipe-sergeant. Canning takes over the front-left flank position from Bryan Spears, who held the spot for the last six years. Spears leaves on completely amicable terms, going on […]
The Argyllshire Gathering at Oban and Inverness’s Northern Meeting are possibly considering limiting entry to the prestigious Senior Piobaireachd and Clasp piobaireachd competitions, respectively, due to concerns about the number of competitors and duration of the competitions in 2023. Both events have traditionally been automatically open in perpetuity to pipers […]
The annual SunBelt Invitational Solo Piping Competition on November 11th in Maitland, Florida, is tapping into the popularity of mixed martial arts and pro wrestling by adding an audience-judged “BarRoom Brawl” event on Friday, November 10th, in addition to the Piobaireachd and Medley competitions on Saturday. Not only will the […]
How’d you like to win a brand new Infinity pipe chanter and other goodies from our friends at R.G. Hardie? All you have to do is enter pipes|drums’ annual Pick The Glenfiddich Five contest, where our super-canny readers get to submit their prediction for the top-five aggregate finishers (including the […]