The Utah Scottish Association Highland Games took place yesterday and Friday.

I was competing solo, but have a year off from band competition as we get our new Grade 4 band established. This was a good thing, because it enabled me to focus on my solo stuff and I think it paid off. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I elected to play The Rout of the MacPhees for my Piobaireachd. We had a beautiful evening for it and I was quite happy with my performance. I took 4th place, and got some good comments from the judge, John Partanen. I think a few nerves may have crept in, but overall I can’t complain!

On Saturday, my pipes were sounding really good for the Slow March and 2/4 March. Amazingly (for me) I placed 3rd in my half of the draw in the 2/4 March. The organizers pulled the top 3 pipers from each half to play again and I finally finished in 4th place overall. I’m still trying to figure out what my surprise at this result shows: Am I a better piper than I thought? If so, why couldn’t I tell? I thought I did OK, but I could hear plenty of places for improvement. Or, maybe the explanation is that almost everybody else choked! Whatever is going on, I’m happy with how it turned out!

Not competing in the Band competition freed me up to do a couple of other things: talk to pipers from other bands, and listen to all the Grade 4 bands quite carefully. Next year, our fledgling Grade 4 band will be competing against these guys and it’s helpful to see where we should be aiming. The verdict: It’s going to be tough, but doable.

Next up, the Payson Games on July 12th and I get to do it all again! See you there.

When I read this article it had all the hallmarks of a classic April Fools joke, but no - it turns out that McCallum Bagpipes are supplying the Sultan of Oman’s Royal Guard with flexible blowsticks for their camel-mounted pipers!

The Sunday Post - “Bendy bagpipes for the Sultan’s bands”

Apparently it’s difficult to ride a camel and play the bagpipes at the same time - the ride is bumpy and teeth get knocked out. When McCallum Bagpipes’ Omani distributor passed the news of this problem to the good people at McCallum, the company responded with their characteristic ingenuity and now mounted pipers the world over can breathe a sigh of relief.