The Captain's Corner

The Gaelic College, St. Ann's, Nova Scotia The Gaelic College in St. Ann's has been the centre of Cape Breton teaching for almost 2/3 of a century. Some of the best pipers, drummers, fiddlers, dancers, Gaelic educators and more have taught students from far and wide. I spent many summers myself there as an instructor... many happy weeks each year soaking up the ambience of the Cape Breton culture. Piping flourished. It is not a stretch of the truth to say that almost every piper of note from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick most likely attended a session or two at the venerable institution. Enough said glorifying its past! Highland Piping has just been removed from the curriculum to be replaced by Cape Breton (kitchenpiping) ! What next? Thinking of its future as a bastion of piping excellence is more like preparing a eulogy for a close friend.  I have been following the thread in PipesDrums.com and I just shake my head. One responder was bold enough to infer Cape Bret...

Pipe Major Roddy S. MacDonald Creativity is a gift... and unfortunately or fortunately, perhaps, a gift for very few. Bruce Gandy, Michael Grey, Gordon Duncan... all names that bring to mind some great tunes over the years. Oh, there are dozens of participants in the composition game - perhaps one tune a year - maybe one tune in a lifetime that makes it to the mainstream. I would be such a player. Perhaps that is why it has been a passion of mine to discover new music; and in the process come to appreciate the nuances each composer brings to the table. Roddy S. MacDonald is a giant among current composers. He has published two books, the ClanRanald Collection with his father, Willie MacDonald (Benbecula) and his latest, released at the National Piping Centre during Piping Live, 2009 - the R.S. MacDonald Collection. Such great tunes (and names, BTW) -El Paco Grande, Good Drying (the title tune off his CD), The Last Tango in Harris, The Pivovar Express, and the list goes on. Buy ...

When Fiona MacPherson’s two young sons told her they wanted to quit piping, she was upset. "I asked why, and they said it wasn't fun," she said. After speaking with her husband — who is a musician — they decided it was important not to force their kids into it.So, the boys quit. But a week later, Angus, 12, and Calum, 11, said they had made a mistake."It turned out to be me," said Fiona. "I made it so regimented that it wasn't fun for them." She asked them to write letters explaining why they wanted to return to lessons and when they did, she allowed them to continue. "Once we all adjusted, it was good," she said, admitting she needed to change her tactics a little. And it worked out. And they don't need much prodding to work on their craft anymore. They practice at least half an hour every day. "Angus wakes up and he walks around while playing his practice chanter in the morning", she said. Making piping fun is an important...

Every so often you meet some one that doesn't stand out in a crowd... is humble beyond words...yet has accomplished more in their lifetime than anyone you know. These people don't have to be involved in the same things as us! They don't need our obsessions. They have their own inner passions which see them through life! Such was DJ (Dorothy) Douglas of Madison, WI. Jake Watson, John Fisher, John Cairns and myself got to know her as the life partner of Rory Ward - a piping student every year at the Milwaukee school. Rory, in her own right, has lived a truly remarkable life and career - being a retired fire lieutenant in Madison Fire Department and also a highly trained psychologist! Here is DJ's life, captured on a PBS documentary recently: Watch the full episode . See more In Wisconsin.

That's right...Super Bowl Sunday...will it be Big Ben and the Steelers or the Packers and Rogers the Rocket Arm? Can you imagine an event in the pipe band world with the same import as the Steelers vs. the Pack? We have it already.... Super Saturday. Mark it on your calendars - August 13, 2011 - coming to you from Glasgow Green and broadcast live by Bob Worrall. Now, what we lack in TV sponsorships, we can make up for in crowd appeal. Unlike the Super Bowl of football, the "pipe band super bowl" has never disappointed its fans with mediocrity or just plain bad play. The one thing about the pipe band fraternity - we can always praise a good performance - we are sufficiently negative to criticize a poor performance - we argue which band should be first - we know better than the "wise judges" on the field - we will always disagree with the final result - we replay the event over and over - and when it is all said and done, we come back year after year regardless ...