Archive
When Ainsley Hart was elected president of Pipe Bands Australia in late 2020, he was presented with an organization fraught with several controversies and a global pandemic that felt like it would never end. A few years later, he has helped to guide the Australian piping and drumming scene into […]
We mourn the pipers, drummers and enthusiasts who sadly left us in 2023. Seven great leaders of and contributors to the art and the piping and drumming community who passed away last year.
The world’s first competition of the New Year once again took place at the Waipu Highland Games, where Stuart Easton of Palmerston North, New Zealand, won the overall title in the New Zealand Open Solo Piping Championships were held at the 151st running of the event. Tai Tapu, New Zealand’s Greg Wilson was the runner-up. Fourteen competed in the Open/A-Grade events.
What a year! What accomplishments! What a journey for the piping and drumming world! The year 2023 brought incredible feats of success on the competition field and boards, in products, and in leadership. Every year since 2001, we’ve brought you the pipes|drums New Year’s Honours – a look back at […]
Piers Dover of Christchurch won the overall and $500NZD on a Medley preference after a tie with Liam Kernaghan, Wellington, who had two second-prizes at the annual Northcote Invitational Solo Piping Competition at the Northcote Tavern on the North Shore of Auckland. Campbell Wilson won the MMSSRR, and, as is tradition, the previous year’s winner, Stuart Easton, judged both events.
In 2023, nearly 200 news stories (not counting articles about competition Results, Features, Interviews, Reviews, Opinion pieces, or other special pieces) were published in pipes|drums. All told we brought you almost 400 articles over the year, and, as always, we thank you for reading. But which 2023 News stories were […]
The Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands Association will bring in Scott Wallace and Jake Jörgensen as guest instructors for the organization’s Annual Summer School in Christchurch January 10-14, the largest gathering non-competition of pipers and drummers in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 150 players of all abilities expected to […]
We brought you nearly 80 Feature stories in 2023 – the articles not categorized as News, Interviews, Reviews, Opinion, or other special pieces. We looked back at the data, and here, in reverse order, are the 10 features readers read and watched the most. (Please note that you will need […]
Editor’s note: pipes|drums welcomes all fair perspectives and opinions. Sharing information and constructive dialogue are at the heart of the publication. Like all who live in a fair democracy, free speech and the free exchange of ideas are central to progress. Our competitive art can move forward only by asking […]
On the afternoon of Friday, December 22nd, just before locking up their 45 Washington Street headquarters for the holidays, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Board of Directors kept hope of creating additional major championships in 2024 alive with an unspecific message: The Board of Directors are working hard to […]
Member bands of the Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands’ Association have elected Liam Kernaghan to the organization’s Board of Directors. Kernaghan has served as the association’s Promotions Group Leader since early 2022. Just in his early thirties, the Auckland-based Kernaghan is an accomplished competing solo and pipe band piper on […]
We check in with the recording superstar to hear about his massive role in Season 6 of the Netflix series and his life as a professional Celtic musician.
There was a time only a few years ago when making a pipe band album was an unattainable dream for most pipers and drummers. Today, thanks to technology and teaching, it’s within reach of virtually any piper, drummer or band. But it’s still not easy.
In Part 1 of the exclusive pipes|drums Interview, Hugh Cameron talked about his formative years and the piping and drumming scene in Ontario in the 1960s and ’70s. Here, in Part 2, Cameron goes into detail about his first encounters with the legendary Alex Duthart, which would lead to a close relationship that lasted more […]
Woo-hoo! It’s the 2023 pipes|drums Holiday Gift Guide! We asked our fabulous advertisers to highlight one or two of their great products and services as excellent gifts for your favourite piper, drummer or piping and drumming enthusiast, so check out their suggestions and the many great deals they offer. Be sure […]
If the dreams of relatives of the great composer and poet John “Jock” McLellan of Dunoon, Scotland, become reality, they will raise enough funds to create a new memorial in the Argyllshire town to be unveiled in 2025 – 150 years since he was born. Duncan MacGregor and Jim Henderson, […]