The Grade 1 Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band of Vancouver will help celebrate its fortieth anniversary year by releasing a new recording on June 16th, the first for the band since the mid-1980s.

 

With Purpose is currently in the final stages of production, and was recorded at Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver, a popular studio with many famous artists, including Diana Ross and Led Zeppelin, and produced by Ian Casselman, drummer with the group Marianas Trench.

 

According to Pipe-Major David Hilder the new CD will feature 12 tracks, including two suites by band member Simon Blackshaw of Australia and a contemporary track that includes Casselman on drums.

 

“Throughout the project, Ian [Casselman] brought forth some very innovative and fresh ideas, and his contributions were invaluable in creating the final product,” Hilder said. “We are extremely pleased with the sonic sound captured on this album, having played a full band on each track.”

 

The CD is available directly from the band online and in-person at various competitions and events over the summer. Those ordering before the release date will also receive a Dowco Triumph Street baseball cap.

 

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Dumbarton, Scotland – May 19, 2012 – Field Marshal Montgomery of Northern Ireland got the 2012 season of major championship off to a strong start with a win at the Scottish, held at Levingrove Park in cold but dry conditions.

 

Grade 1 (medley, 16 competed)

1st Field Marshal Montgomery

2nd ScottishPower

3rd Inveraray & District

4th Strathclyde Police

5th St. Laurence O’Toole

6th Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia

Drumming: Shotts

Judges: John Wilson, Iain Wood (piping); David Brown (drumming); Trevor Dear (ensemble)

 

Grade 2 (MSR, 16 competed)

1st Glasgow Skye

2nd Denny & Dunipace Gleneagles

3rd Buchan

4th Lomond & Clyde

5th Oban

6th Howard Memorial

Drumming: Denny & Dunipace Gleneagles

Judges: Ronnie McShannon, Alan Ronaldson (piping); W. Goodall (drumming); Denver Cardwell (ensemble)

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The group of world famous pipers and drummers who hit the road in early-April on the “Pipes & Sticks on Route 66″ tour have embarked on a one-of-a-kind journey, and members of the team have offered to provide pipes|drums Magazine readers with an exclusive travel log on the adventure. Drummers Mike Cole and Jim Kilpatrick and pipers Stuart Liddell, Angus MacColl and Willie McCallum are taking three weeks to traverse the old US Highway #66, playing recitals and conducting workshops along the way. In this final installment, Mike Cole, Willie McCallum and Stuart Liddell fill us in on the exploits of the gang on the last three days of the adventure.

 

 

Day 10:

 

By Mike Cole

 

The evening sky in Monument Valley was crystal clear providing us with a magnificent horizon to view the stars. As a city dweller, this was a rarity to relish and enjoy.

 

A few of us rose at 5:30 am to catch the sunrise. It was nothing short of spectacular. Before we hit the road again we decided to drive into Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to visit their information center and venture a bit further into the valley.

 

There were numerous touring outfits that were taking people down the mostly unpaved roads and into the canyons of the park . . . mostly in four-wheel-drive vehicles. “Nothing a big Mercedes can’t handle,” I thought.

 

After a three-mile an hour grind on roughly a mile of switchbacks and severely cratered single track roads, we found a terrific spot for taking some pictures. It seemed as if we had the place to ourselves and then we were invaded by a large and loud tour group with similar intentions . . . bloody tourists! As we watched some very stout SUVs carefully negotiating the trail below, it was decided that carefully retracing our path out of the park would be the smart choice.

 

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The first major championship of the 2012 UK season will again take place at Dumbarton, Scotland, when more than 160 bands compete at the Scottish Championships at Levengrove Park, including 16 in Grade 1.

 

 

 

 

The weather forecast for Saturday is partly sunny with a high of 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit), winds out of the northeast at 10-20 mph, and a 40 per cent chance of rain in the afternoon.

 

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the 2012 Scottish Championships as they become available.

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When the legendary piper Robert Reid died in 1965 he notoriously was said to have requested in his will that all of his piping manuscripts and recordings be buried with him. But a number of reel-to-reel tapes of his playing – the only recordings of Reid’s playing in his prime known to exist – survived, and the Piobaireachd Society has managed to purchase them from the Reid estate.

 

“The Piobaireachd Society has been able to buy the tapes of Robert Reid’s playing,” Piobaireachd Society President Jack Taylor said. “We intend to listen to them, then to digitize them and post appropriate content on the Piobaireachd Society website in due course.”

 

Taylor did not disclose the amount that the organization paid Reid’s family for the tapes, many of which were reportedly made in Reid’s bagpipe-making shop in Glasgow in the 1950s. The late piper Willie Connell, who was taught by Reid for more than 30 years, said that he often operated the reel-to-reel recorder when he worked with Reid at the shop.

 

Born in the mining village of Slammanan, Scotland, Robert Reid was one of the greatest exponents of piobaireachd in the 20th century. He was a pupil of John MacDougall-Gillies, who was in turn taught by the Cameron family of pipers. Reid and his relatively few pupils, who also included William Barrie and Andrew MacNeill, are seen as the last links to the “Cameron” style of piobaireachd playing, which has been all but replaced by the “MacPherson” style, largely due to the prodigious teaching of John MacDonald, Inverness; then MacDonald’s primary pupils Robert Brown and Robert Nicol; and, subsequently, their pupils, such as Ian Duncan, Andrew Wright and Taylor himself.

 

The son of a coal miner, Reid was often at odds with the Piobaireachd Society’s then aristocratic “society” management. He was at times ostracized by the organization. Reid was said to have contended that the MacCrimmon family of piobaireachd composers and teachers from Skye was a myth, sparking rage from Piobaireachd Society President Archibald Campbell of Kilberry.

 

Taylor added: “I know that there is quite a bit of interest in the tapes generally . . . and I hope that our acquisition of them will mean that his style can be preserved now for all time.”

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“The annual New Zealand summer school was another big success.  There were over 200 students in attendance.  The pipers were encouraged to write original compositions and submit them to a group of adjudicators.  The 3 winning tune-writers were delighted to be awarded McCallum chanters”.

1st James Wansink with the tune ‘Wee Johnny’

2nd Mike Wellwood with the tune ‘Duncan, Ross, Malcolm and Mans’

3rd Fiona Smith with the tune ‘Aunty Jeans’ Jig’

From left to right, James Wansink, Fiona Smith, Mike Wellwood and Jack Lee

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Jack Lee said “The APBA summer school was again very well run.  The facilities were top-notch and we combined a lot of piobairchd, light music and pipe band instruction during the week.”

The results for the music writing competition were

1st    Morning Rush Hour by Sally-Anne Richter

2nd  Marching out St. George’s by Wey Shi Ong  

3rd  Macleod College by Adam Wishart

The winners were all delighted to be awarded McCallum chanters.

From left to right, Wey Shi Ong, Adam Wishart, Sally-Anne Richter and Jack Lee

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Pipe Major Gordon Walker will perform in recital at the Scots Guards Club, Haymarket, Edinburgh on Sunday 10th June. Tickets are £10 and include a curry.

www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/

Gourock, Scotland – May 13, 2012 – The Scottish season’s first outdoor west coast competition of 2012 was the traditional Sunday event at Gourock, which was the victim of horrendous weather. Several bands pulled out of the competition when they saw the forecast. Ultimately Glasgow Skye Association was the big winner, taking the Grade 2 contest. There was no Grade 1 competition despite it being offered.

 

Grade 2

1st Glasgow Skye Association

2nd Mackenzie Caledonian

3rd Williamwood

Judges Peter Hunt, John Wilson (piping); R. Dungeon (drumming); J. MacInnes (ensemble)

 

Grade 3

1st Stamperland

2nd First Scottish Milngavie

3rd Johnstone

Judges: Gordon Lawrie, John Nevans (piping); Joe Noble (drumming); Malcolm MacKenzie (ensemble)

 

Juvenile

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