Concert

Friday night the Heathens performed along with The Crawford School of Irish Dance and Swagger at a fund raising concert for the St Patrick's Day Parade. The concert was a huge success... nearly sold out. Here is a video of our opening set.

Looking Back

Last Friday, I played at a Burns Night Dinner for the folks at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church. Performing with me were several youngsters from the Donahue Highland Dance Academy. I played for the dancers for the first time since 1999.

Watching these young kids perform brought back memories from when I was a young beginner on the pipes, when everything was new and exciting. I thought back to the first time I played for a highland dancer, the early competitions and performances. Suddenly I remembered how nervous I would get. I remembered the weight of my pipes, the smell of the old hide bag, how strange it felt to put on a kilt for the first time. I remembered how exciting it was to go new places with the band, make new friends and learn new tunes.

I spent the entire evening pondering memories of experiences I had as a kid and the good friends I experienced them with.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’m still sworn off of pipe bands, but it was nice to escape thoughts of the many negative attributes of bands and just enjoy the good memories for a while. They are so vast!

Robert Burns Day

Sorry, I'm a few days late with this post. Robert Burns Day was January 25th, but I haven't had time to update the blog until now. I trust you all enjoyed your haggis! I'll add a post with my Burns Day experience in a few days... for now, I supose this will due.

What is Haggis?
Take the liver, lungs & heart of a sheep and boil them. Mince the meats and mix with chopped onions, toasted oatmeal, salt, pepper, and spices. Take one properly cleaned sheep's stomach. Stuff the cleaned stomach with the prepared contents. Sew up the stomach (leaving enough room for expansion to avoid a large messy explosion) and boil. Serve and eat. Lovely !

Address To A Haggis
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
"Bethankit!" 'hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

Robert Burns

I just finished my first gig of 2010 and it was a doosie! Late this afternoon I began my journey up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Snow Bird Ski Resort, where I rode the tram to the top of Snow Bird Peak to play for the memorial of a recently deceased Ski Patrolman. The peak is about 11,000 ft and the temp was 8 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of negative something awful! Today I wore long johns under my kilt for the first time in my life! It was cold! I froze, my fingers froze, my drones were covered in ice.... but it was a great experience. The view was awesome! 200 plus folks rode the tram to the top of the mountain to pay respect to their comrade. They showed such great appreciation for my piping as well. The service was among the best I've ever seen. Bagpipes, fireworks and a 21 blast salute from the avalanche canon.

Anyway... I got some great pics while I was there!

The Echo

OK... I think I'm becoming a bit of a cut and paste blogger! Like my last post, this was sent to me via e-mail and I want to share it. I hope that the person who sent it to me doesn't mind.

As 2009 draws to a conclusion, I think more of us are looking forward to a new year than ever before. However, with that said it is important to remember that often the most reward comes from enduring difficult times. I know everyone has faced many challenges this year, but let’s look to the future with a positive mind set and a determination of champions. Have a great New Year!

The Echo
"A son and his father are walking in the mountains. Suddenly, the son falls, hurts himself, and screams: 'AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!' To his surprise, he hears a voice repeating, somewhere in the mountains: 'AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!' Curious, he yells out: 'Who are you?' He receives the answer: 'Who are you?' And then he screams to the mountain: 'I admire you!' The voice answers: 'I admire you!' Angered at the response, he screams: 'Coward!' He receives the answer: 'Coward!' He looks to his father and asks: 'What's going on?' The father smiles and says: 'My son, pay attention.' Again, the man screams: 'You are a champion!' The voice answers: 'You are a champion!' The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains: 'People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. if you want more competency in your team, improve your own competency. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life. Life will give you back everything you have given to it. Your life is not a coincidence. It's a reflection of you'"
Now, during this new year, I ask you to stop and think for a moment. Are you paying attention and listening to YOUR Echo? From what life seems to be calling out to you, what are you calling out to life? Happy New Year!

The Funeral

This was sent to me via e-mail from a friend.


As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a grave side service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw that the funeral director had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down. The vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man. As I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low my heart was full. As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, " I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
If you check this blog often you may remember that last year I had the pleasure of meeting Santa Clause and he told me the story of how he learned to play the bagpipes.
Well… I have kept in touch with Santa over the months since last Christmas, and he told me that he would like to play the pipes and share his story with you.
If you are interested in having Santa play the bagpipes and entertain the kids of any age at your party, please call me. I’ll set it up for you.

801-661-4168

Call soon, performance dates are limited.