I’ve long thought that Angus MacKay’s life would make for a great film. It has it all: sex, drugs (well, alcohol), rock n’ roll and a young death. Angus went from a childhood of poverty to an adolescence spent frequenting palaces and hobnobbing with the great and good of his […]
You get together with a group of your pipe band friends for a ‘pipe band’ trivia night. First question: Which Grade 1 pipe band won the World Championship in 1955 at Stirling, but was disqualified for playing the wrong MSR? Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia is the correct answer, with John […]
This recording was released a couple of days before the Glenfiddich and was made during lockdown by renowned Scottish multi-instrumentalist, Fraser Fifield. He also recorded, engineered and mastered it. At first glance, the title would suggest this is a recording devoted to ceòl mòr. It isn’t. Fifield refers to the […]
By Stuart Letford The Conundrum: International Piping Night, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, New Auditorium, Glasgow (January 25, 2019) The new auditorium of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, imaginatively called the, er, New Auditorium, was the venue for this multi-national line-up of pipers brought together by composer, flute player, piper, instructor, […]
Bagpipe Brothers by Kerry Sheridan was published in paperback in 2006. It’s taken three attempts for me to finish it. There are two reasons for this: 1) given its subject matter – the four pipe band members, all firemen, who played at the funeral of every colleague who perished in […]
By Stuart Letford and Dan Nevans Please accept our collective apology for this review having taken so long to write. This was because one of us has only just been released from the Southern General Hospital having had his sides stitched and the other one refused to come out from […]
In February 2020, for their appearance and tone, I bought a used set of silver and faux ivory 1980 Kintail bagpipes. I then spent months trying to bring that tone properly to the surface, where I could be confident that they would still be near in tune whenever I picked […]
The National Piping Centre. Friday, August 13. As compère, Fergus Muirhead noted, Piping Live! has always showcased the huge diversity of bagpipe music. This concert was a great example of that. Funding was received from the PRS Foundation Open Fund to commission five Scottish composers to make new pieces for […]
By Michael Grey Silver Chanter (August 7) The 55th MacCrimmon recital for the Silver Chanter was a fitting start to this year’s Piping Live! festival. With six pipers from among our very best, a well-lit stage and a breathing, drinking, honest-to-goodness live audience, festival organisers chose well. Of course, this […]
Any artist creates based on their own experiences and influences. Many will seek to develop new ideas evolving from the art which inspires them. Stravinsky developed tonal and rhythmic ideas from Rimsky-Korsakov, for example. Others will clinically remove the factors they enjoy the most from their favourite art and layer […]
