A Controversy of Pipers

Solo piping by pipers well known outside the confines of the piping world - all members of folk bands like Battlefield Band, Whistlebinkies, Ossian, Clutha, Kentigern. Much of the material is rarely heard or is original, covering the whole gamut of Scottish piping at its glorious best.

Featuring:

Iain MacDonald
Iain MacDonald, the younger brother of pipers Allan & Angus, was born and brought up in Glenuig, a small Gaelic speaking community in the west highlands, accessible only by boat until 1968. He started his education in Glenuig as the last and only pupil of the primary school there, going on to the Queen Victoria School in Dunblane where he received most of his piping tuition from P/M John MacKenzie. Subsequently, Iain had lessons from Duncan Johnstone and Roderick MacDonald (Ruaridh Roidein) of South Uist. Iain was the bagpiper with Battlefield Band for a number of years and has also.has played with Ossian, Wolfstone, 7.84 and Tosg.

Dougie Pincock
Dougie Pincock has brought a modern sensibility to Scotland's piping tradition. Although he continues to reveal a mastery of the traditional jigs and reels, Pincock has incorporated jazz and rock influences into his playing. During his seven-year tenure with the Battlefield Band, he played everything from traditional instrumentals to Celtic-tinged renditions of Creedence Clearwater Revival's swamp-rock classic, "Bad Moon Rising." Dirty Linen praised him for playing "progressive Scottish roots music at its best."

Duncan MacGillivray
Ex-Battlefield Band bagpiper Duncan MacGillivray (also an accomplished whistle player and guitarist) received much inspiration during his early years in piping from his father D.P. MacGillivray who was a well established piper and Gold medallist from Ross-Shire. This was followed by tuition received at Glenalmond from another Gold medallist, P/M Jimmy MacGregor. Duncan left Battlefield Band in 1983 has his hands full being a farmer in Easter Ross. He continues to play and is still winning piping competitions. In 1997 he achieved the top award in Piping when he won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting in Inverness.

Robert 'Rab' Wallace
Robert Wallace is one of Scotland's leading professional solo pipers.  At 18 he joined the now defunct, but well-remembered, Grade One pipe band, Muirhead and Sons, many times the World Champions.  He studied under Pipe Major Robert Hardie, and when the band folded in 1979 began piobaireachd tuition with Andrew Wright of Dunblane, a pupil of the great authorities on this music, P/M Donald MacLeod, R.U. Brown and R.B. Nicol of Balmoral. Prior to this, in 1974, Rab had joined the Whistlebinkies and with them restored an early set of bellows-blown lowland pipes. This instrument was used on the group's first recording Whistlebinkies 1 on the Dublin based Claddagh label in 1976 and thus began the revival in "cauld-wind" or Scottish bellows piping. Robert has enjoyed a successful solo piping career. Highlights include winning the Gold Medal at Oban (1985), the Gold Medal at Inverness (1995) and the Former Winners March, Strathspey and Reel at Oban (1985). He achieved a notable double in 1989 when he won both the Bratach Gorm (Blue Banner) and Gillies Cup at the London Piping Championship, the first piper to achieve this since R.U. Brown in 1962.

Jimmy Anderson
Bagpiper Jimmy Anderson is a native of Larbert in Stirlingshire. He has played with the Wallacestone Pipe Band and was with Muirhead & Sons during their most successfull five year run as world champions in the sixties under P/M Bob Hardie. His connection with folk music stems back many years, both as an individual player and as the piper with Clutha. He has made many visits abroad and has a special affinity to Brittany where he has attended and played at many festivals. A carpenter to trade, Jimmy also established himself as a highly regarded maker of Scottish lowland and smallpipes.

P/M Iain MacDonald
Pipe Major Iain MacDonald received great encouragement as a boy from his parents who are from Bernera on the West side of Lewis. More formal tuition was received from the late P/M Donald MacLeod and from Duncan Johnstone. As Pipe Major of the Neiston and District Pipe Band, Iain's interests in traditional music of different countries and cultures increased. He now has a repertoire of European folkdance tunes which he has transposed to the Scottish Bagpipe scale. As custodian of the Hamilton collection of bagpipes, Iain plays Northumbrian, Uillean, Scottish Lowland, Bombarde and Binou. He was the original piper of the Glasgow based band Kentigern and guested with Battlefield Band.