Shenandoahpiper

Spring 2015 - Bring it on!

2/23/2015

I need to get back to piping more than I have been. Life has been so full of various forms of work, a new baby (now one year old), and other random things that piping has just not been as prominent in my life. Having just played for my first graveside service in a while two weeks ago, I really feel like this drought needs to be at an end. It was wonderful to strike up and play for other people!

So, if you have an event for which you think bagpipes might be cool - give me a ring/email!

My old Gibson's are now equipped with a brand new Bannatyne hybrid bag (part synthetic, part hide) and a drone and chanter moisture control system that really rocks. No more moisture issues for me! I have also noticed a significant increase in playing comfort. So, while I haven't had time to try this - I'm betting that I could play for an hour or more straight!

That still wouldn't make me half as cool as this guy...

THAT...is a serious bass drone!

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A Winery Wedding

6/22/2013

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It was truly a beautiful day for a wedding. Okay, it was hot...somewhere north of 85 degrees...which made wearing dress clothes rather uncomfortable. However, I wasn't alone in that. Weddings are most often happy and dressy occasions. Erin and Gareth's wedding was no different. It was a beautiful ceremony on the veranda overlooking Great North Mountain (and, ironically, my own house just three miles away). The theme of the day was peacocks...a very attractive one. The groom has a Scottish background, but given the theme, I think it was probably difficult to find a proper kilt :).

I played for just shy of an hour in total. For 30 minutes prior to the ceremony, I played a mix of stately marches and slow airs. Wedding music prior to the ceremony is usually more low-key. One new tune that I did play was "The Highland Wedding". This six-part march has taken me a fair amount of time to learn, but it went off pretty well. Well, the fourth part was a bit rocky both times that I played it. But, I may be the only person who knew. That's not always too comforting, though it should be. I also played for about 30 minutes after the ceremony. Those tunes were more light and upbeat, like "Crossing the Minch" or "Itchy Fingers". A number of quick marches and strathspeys were also played. The bottom line -- most of these tunes could inspire gleeful dancing.

I was pretty nervous prior to driving the winery. It has been a while since I have played at a wedding, but it was mostly because I was not just playing at any wedding, but at a ceremony where I was in some way representing the heritage of the groom. I could have brushed this off, but I probably took it too seriously instead. Since I did not know him or his family prior to arriving at the ceremony, he could have been related to some long line of amazing pipers for all I knew and would be listening in for any missed notes or chanter squeaks. Fortunately, so far as I know, this was no the case. He was very gracious and welcoming and made me feel very at-ease.

I share this window into my insecurities because I was reminded today of all of those solo and ensemble competitions in which I competed in middle and high school band as a trumpet player. I was even reminded of the times that I needed to audition for All Ohio State Fair Band or even my own bands back home. These always involved solos in front of one or more people. These were judged in so many ways back and forth, left and right, that I suppose I learned to have nerves whenever such a solo opportunity arose. My worst such experience was actually related to piping -- auditioning for the College of Wooster Scottish Arts Scholarship. I had only been playing bagpipes for less than six months and could barely play half of the tunes I needed to to compete. Still, I auditioned. I didn't get it...in fact, it was clear to me that freshman year at Wooster that those who did get it ahead of me were so much better, I almost felt ridiculous for even trying.

Of course, trying out wasn't ridiculous. Nor was it ridiculous to do all of those competitions and auditions in my younger years. In hindsight, they were some of my best and most memorable experiences. One lesson that I have learned through these successes and failures is that because I am not the best musician or piper in the world, I am able recognize how much room I have for growth as a player and will work harder to get there as a result. Confidence might help me miss fewer notes during high-stakes performances, but I think that too much of it would lead me down a path to complacency...and I would find myself playing the same tired tunes over and over!

So, nerves, I embrace my uneasy relationship with you!

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A Funeral...

5/15/2013

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Probably the most common event for which pipers get called is a funeral. These are difficult events. Professionalism requires the piper to be as empathetic with the bereaved family as possible, whether the service is a more traditional service or mourning or one of the celebration of a life. Perhaps this is easiest when you are not connected personally with the family and the only contact that you have is before, during, and perhaps after the event. I played for the latter this past Monday.

It was cool for May...and the air was dry. In summation, it was perfect outdoor piping weather. There was little chance of my drone reeds getting choked off by moisture or in having my tuning go completely nuts on me. I could even go in and out of the church with little change in chanter or drone pitch. I was asked to play for both the funeral service and the graveside internment. The funeral was long, but many people had kind and inspiring words to say about the late Wayne Campbell of Luray and Blacksburg, VA. Being a geologist myself, I felt some connection with this man who was a geophysicist, though his work in the oil industry was never something to which I aspired. My interests were always on the other side of geology -- the environmental side -- though I did dabble quite a bit in paleontology (See mom, I did become a paleontologist, I just never worked at Taco Bell!).

I piped beforehand a bit and walked the family in on Amazing Grace -- which is not normally a tune that I play walking, but it worked nicely. At the finish of the service, I played Going Home while walking the casket and family out.

The trip to Beahm's Chapel Cemetery did not take too long, as I was ahead of the funeral procession. Upon arrival, we drove to the top of a hill which had a beautiful, commanding view of the proximal Blue Ridge Mountains and the distant Massanutten Mountain. It is really a stunning vista -- a fine place to be buried -- and an encouragement, no doubt, for relatives to visit often. It was windy though and quickly became cloudy while I was warming up the pipes. Tuning remained reliable, but my fingers found themselves getting a bit cold. I've been in a similar situation before. It was a November funeral and I warmed up so much that my reeds became soaked despite the dry air and, when I began to play for the funeral itself, the tuning was suddenly something south of atrocious. It was so bad, that I felt compelled to come back the next day (there was another funeral that day) and take a moment to do it right.

The sun broke through, however, and "The Campbell's Are Coming", "Oh Shenandoah", and "Amazing Grace" emanated sweetly from the pipes, even as I walked away during the latter tune. A few drops of rain blew into our faces, but the persistent sunshine told us that it was merely an ephemeral splatter.

I drove back to work feeling good about the whole thing. The family was able to lay their patriarch to rest, my playing went well, and the weather held. All was good. Even the boxed dinner provided me by the kind members of Rileyville Baptist Church was good on the way home. Four hours later, I was

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The Elegant Wedding Festival -- Strasburg, VA

3/27/2013

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This past weekend my wonderful wife Sarah spent much time (apart from Palm Sunday Service, of course) at the Elegant Wedding Festival in Strasburg, VA showcasing her pottery, photography, and doing demonstrations. She always has a great deal of fun at these shows and gets some great work down as well. She has the opportunity to meet some great new people and make connections and commissions that help make working with her art more enjoyable.

Apart from helping her load and unload vehicles and hang out with the boys, I did get a chance to get dressed up and play a bit through the vendor's areas. The event was not very well attended, which was a real shame considering the amount of work that the awesome organizers put into it, but we had a good time anyway. I also made a few connections, some of which I hope bear fruit.

If you have a wedding coming up, or know someone who does, why not consider a pi

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St. Paddy's Day at the Boston Beanery

3/20/2013

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What a weekend!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Harrisonburg, VA Boston Beanery's annual At. Patrick's Day celebration. During saturday and sunday afternoons it was my job to pipe the goodie bucket around the restaurant a couple of times before it was deposited at some lucky table. We did this once every hour. It was great fun people watching. Naturally, at these functions there is a fair amount of heavy drinking, though that is certainly not something that the hired piper should be doing and this one followed that rule. There were also plenty of families enjoying a night out filled with joyous, if raucous, fun. Some of the tunes I played included:

Atholl Highlanders
The Irish Washerwoman
Itchy Fingers
Cutting Bracken
The Pikeman's March

...and a few others. While these tune are not ALL expressly Irish, I did hear a few of them while listening to the Irish music being played in the restaurant, and so felt somewhat vindicated :). And, yes, I did play "Scotland the Brave" during my last turn 'round on Saturday night :)! Why not? It was a request!

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A Shenandoah Piper's Journey

Spring 2015 - Bring it on!

A Winery Wedding

A Funeral...

The Elegant Wedding Festival -- Strasburg, VA

St. Paddy's Day at the Boston Beanery