Archive
The Grade 4B Sons of Holyland & District won’t compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in August, allegedly because of an administrative error by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association or the band itself. After the draw for all grades at the World’s was revealed on the morning of […]
It’s fashionable these days to stress the positive, and, as usual, competition piping and drumming is no exception. Not too long ago, scoresheets were often a stream of negative comments dwelling on what were technical niggles or relatively minor hiccups. A lousy attack – in reality, a tiny part of […]
The two-year impact of the global pandemic has come into stark reality with only 145 bands entered across all grades at the 2022 World Pipe Band Championships to be held at Glasgow Green, Glasgow, August 12-13. With relatively few bands based outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland entered, and […]
Exclusively for subscribers, the evolution of Ross’s innovations that brought instrumental change to piping, the role that leaders like Terry Lee, Nat Russell and Bill Livingstone played, and the copycatting of his products.
The piping tradition in the village of Kilbarchan (population 3,300) in central Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland goes back to the 16th century, and the town’s pipe band was resurrected in 2002 competing with moderate success in Grade 4 ever since. But so far in 2022 the […]
Scotland’s annual Royal National Mòd – “Gaeldom’s premiere musical and cultural event” – will for the first time use the Competing Pipers Association’s grading for its solo piping competitions October 14-22 in Perth, Scotland. The event, staged in a different location every year, previously took a more traditional approach to […]
Embro and Kincardine, Ontario – July 1-2, 2022 – Canada Day conveniently landing on a Friday allowed for back-to-back competitions, starting with the Embro Highland Games, always held on the country’s national day of celebration, and the Kincardine Scottish Festival, annually staged on the first Saturday of July. Weather was […]
BBC Scotland has confirmed that the Friday Grade 1 events of the World Pipe Band Championships will once again be live-streamed. Britain’s public broadcaster confirmed to pipes|drums that the live Internet broadcast will happen once again, even though the Grade 1 competition promises to be 14 bands, with only four […]
If you’ve ever wanted to see the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal and the Silver Star Former Winners MSR at the Northern Meeting at Inverness, Scotland, you now have the opportunity, as the world’s greatest two days of indoor solo piping competitions will be live-streamed for the first time […]
By Martin Docherty On June 19, 2022, the Edinburgh Pipe Band Championships were held at the Edinburgh Academy sports fields. Despite its name, this was a “small competition,” and not one of the five major championships run by the RSPBA. What was unusual at this competition was the presence of […]
Hastings, New Zealand – June 25, 2022 – The Hastings Comunn na Piobaireachd, affiliated with the UK’s Piobaireachd Society, held its annual competitions. Almost 100 competitors, including 23 in the A Grade, competed over the weekend. Conditions were cold but dry. Several judges had to withdraw before the event, so […]
Red Deer, Alberta – June 25, 2022 – After a two-year hiatus, the 75th annual Red Deer Highland Games kicked-off Alberta’s outdoor season with pleasant weather, with temperatures hovering around +20C with a mix of sun and cloud throughout the day. The games was held at a new location, the […]
Inverness, Scotland – June 25, 2022 – The European Pipe Band Championships finally returned to the northern Scotland city of Inverness after a two-year hiatus, and Inveraray & District came away with the Grade 1 title in convincing fashion with four first place rankings from the judges, in a successful […]
The third major competition of the UK season will see reigning World Champions Inveraray & District defend its 2019 title at the European Pipe Band Championships at Bught Park in Inverness, Scotland. The band will be pitted once again against nine other contestants in Grade 1, including Field Marshal Montgomery […]
With the likes of Woolmet, Torphichen, Wasach, and Cullybackey, “Guelph” is one of the more delightfully unusual names in the pipe band world. For those who don’t know, Guelph (pronounced gwelf) is a city of about 150,000 in southwestern Ontario with pipe band dream comfort memory to spare. It’s also […]