“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.”

The words of Prince Edward Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery rang true this past weekend in British Columbia. While it may not be June, May in the Lower Mainland of BC has many comparisons to June in PEI. L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables” recounted life in the Cavendish area of PEI, where “the beauties of nature unfold by the sea”. Here in BC, the past weekend was worth writing about: the azaleas and lilacs were blooming, the sun was shining, children playing and lawn-mowers humming. And with the dregs of winter and spring finally shaken off, it’s time to start the outdoor bagpiping season.

Vancouver and Lower Mainland outdoor weddings are always a highlight. New lives started under brilliant skies, warm breezes and of course bagpipes to lead in the bride, introduce the new couple to the world or entertain guests. In dozens of small communities, the sound of pipe bands marching down streets is always a thrill for young and old. Many pipe bands turn out for these events, ours being no exception. This weekend, our band partakes in one of our favourites: the Cloverdale Rodeo parade on Saturday morning. The parade is also our way of giving back to the community that has been very supportive of our band. This being a rodeo parade, there is always the added challenge of navigating city streets behind the “left-overs” from horses, cows and assorted other well-fed ruminant animals. Every bagpiper and drummer knows what I mean.

The soft summer and spring evenings are an invitation to bagpipers to play outside. Growing up in Nova Scotia,  residents in my small community could often hear pipers on the evening breezes, practicing in backyards or empty fields. In a big city, it is always difficult to find the ideal practice location. Recent turmoil in Vancouver over the “noise” from buskers has highlighted what every piper must deal with in an urban setting: where to practice without disturbing people. Practice is the opportunity to improve execution, expression and memory of tunes; it should not be a show to raise money. So finding a private location away from the madding crowd is often a challenge. In this quest, I have usually been lucky. In Coquitlam, the oak trees and quiet green spaces of the expansive Riverview Hospital complex have been my private practice hall. In Vancouver, I share my music with the pines and firs of Deadman’s Island near Stanley Park. (FYI: Both required permission.) Outdoors, the pipes sound sweeter, the tunes more beautiful and the fusion of nature and music adding to the experience of playing this majestic instrument.

For those looking for the sound of pipes, then the outdoor piping competition season has begun. At these events you will find the best in BC and the Pacific Northwest. On Saturday, May 19, the Comox Valley Highland Games gets underway, followed the next day by  the Victoria Highland Games and Celtic Festival.
Here’s a list of upcoming games. Load up the car, throw in the kids and take off to enjoy one of the highlights of the summer bagpiping season in Vancouver, the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest:

New SFU bass drum. (photos courtesy SFU Media Relations)

A new bass drum,  a new set of Northern Ireland manufactured Andante snare and tenor drums and a new music piece written by Robert Mathieson will be some of the highlights of a 30th anniversary concert May 4 at the home venue of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra by the six-time World Pipe Band Champions Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.

The band returns to NYC for the second time since their 1998 concert at Carnegie Hall to play at the 2,738-seat Avery Fisher Hall in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The band recently played an anniversary concert at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre on April 15. The New York concert will become the band’s 11th recording.

It is believed the band will play Mark Saul’s suite “The Beaches of Harris” and a version of Gordon Duncan’s “The Sleeping Tune”. Band members are also expected to drop their instruments and lift their voices in a rendition of “His Father’s Lament for Donald MacKenzie”, repeating a Glasgow Royal Concert Hall performance from 2009 when the group sang the Donald MacLeod piobaireachd “The Field of Gold”

The flashy bass drum sports a picture of the Statue of Liberty and the words “Live in New York”.  The blue matches the tone of the band’s recently redesigned tartan. The new drum set arrived in NYC in boxes and the drum corps has spent the past few days setting up and tuning, while the pipers have been giving their instruments a blow to acclimatize to the new environment.

The band’s  first rehearsal was today (May 3) with a final rehearsal and sound check Friday morning before the May 4 evening concert.

Pipers and dancers pepping for Concert.

SFU president Andrew Petter, who is in New York on business, will open the concert.

Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee says pipers are spending the day getting their pipes in top shape. “It takes a day or two for instruments to become acclimatized to new conditions and it’s important that we take a day to set up and give them a blow in New York weather,” says Lee.

Band members will assemble for their first and only group practice later today before heading to the center for sound checks and a final rehearsal on Friday morning.

Pipe Sgt. Jack Lee fine tunes Derek Milloy, as Robert Mathieson looks on.

Band members will conduct a series of piping and drumming workshops over the weekend to more than 200 musicians who have signed up for instruction from the top level band members.

“Whenever we perform out of town we like to reach out and provide instruction, engaging with those young and old who share our enthusiasm for the music,” say Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee. “Here in New York, home to the largest number of pipers and drummers in the world, it makes sense to reach out.

Their performance Friday evening will open with remarks from President Andrew Petter, who is in New York following his recent trip to Brazil with a contingent of Canadian university presidents.

Grey skies over Vancouver

One of the advantages of living in Vancouver is the lack of a real winter. Compared to the rest of British Columbia and most of the country, we have it easy here in the southwest corner of the province. A dusting of snow now and then throughout the winter months, rain that does not need shoveling and the occasional sunny day that can reach to the teens. Any visitor from away could be lulled into a false sense that we are living in what Allan Fotheringham used to call “British California”.

After a dozen years in British Columbia, I beg to differ.

Again this year, as we head into May, the question arises: where is our spring? While the rest of the country is setting out patio chairs and firing up back-yard barbeques,  we continue to be huddled around our proverbial heaters, waiting for  skies to clear and the sun to start warming our small piece of paradise. Is this the price we pay for a lack of snow and the biting cold that can be experienced in many places of Canada throughout the year? I have lived in parts of Canada where I have woken up in a tent that was -25 and the outside temperature almost -40. (I was news reporting in Labrador.) I have taken walks through snow storms, weathered blizzards in parts of Nova Scotia and reported on wild ocean storms in the Atlantic. But I often think the toughest weather is what Vancouverite’s endure as they wait for spring warmth to finally arrive.

Nature has received the message. Since April, the trees have been blossoming, the grass is growing and birds are singing. But getting outside to enjoy the warmth and pleasant spring air is a rarity again this year. It is grey skies, cold temperatures and rain for week after week with barely a break.  And as a bagpiper, there’s nothing I enjoy more than spending an hour at my favourite outdoor practice location playing the tunes I have been working on (indoor) for the past seven months. Under the trees and with nature all around you, the music seems sweeter, the tunes more beautiful and the experience that much more enjoyable.

Maybe it’s age. Maybe I’m just getting cantankerous.  But I’m losing patience. When is spring going to arrive? I see by the weather forecast that we “may” get some sun on Sunday. But first, like all good Vancouverite’s, I must endure the grey skies, cold temperatures and rain that seems to be the constant companion of this province on the edge of the ocean.

Senator Larry Campbell

The masses have spoken. The ban on bagpiping on Vancouver city streets has been lifted after a spirited uproar from bagpipers, piping organizations, the general population and a cabinet minister from Scotland.

The bylaw banning the excessive noise of bagpipes, drums, bongos and tambourines on city streets was quietly introduced by the city’s engineering department several months ago. It was unnoticed until young piper Kyle Banta, who busks on city streets each summer, applied for his license. To his, and much of the city’s surprise, he was informed ‘no more bagpipe busking on city streets.’

When the news hit the streets, it created a furor. The Mayor wouldn’t have it, and neither would thousands of people who chimed in with their opinions online, in mainstream media and in newspapers around the world. Even the visiting Scottish culture minister spoke against the bylaw. The mayor asked city staff to review the issue after he became aware of the change to the city’s noise-regulations. One of the many bagpipe supporters who bemoaned the bylaw is former Vancouver city mayor and current Senator Larry Campbell.    “While Mayor Robertson is from a different clan, as with the vast majority of his decisions, I applause his decision to free the pipes,” said Campbell in an email.

“The ban was ridiculous and ill thought out. Bag pipes are magnificent instruments that have led troops to battle, lamented the death of

Busking Bagpiper Kyle Banta

many and soothed the soul. Of course there is a place for them in Vancouver.”

Most pipers, including me, agree that there should be a level of competence before a piper is loosed on city streets. The bagpipes are a magnificent but difficult instrument to master. It can take years of lessons and practice before a piper is comfortable and confident with the instrument. Ensuring a bagpipe is properly tuned and the tunes properly played should be mandatory. It is a great disservice to the music, the people who listen and the great players of the past to play the instrument poorly in public.

“While the pipes may not be every ones cup of tea, I have heard similar complaints about rappers, blues and rock performers,” says Campbell.  “Vancouver is a diverse city and music is a core component.”

My advice to the city was, of course, to lift the ban. But I also suggest every bagpiper who intends to busk on city streets be judged beforehand. There are many top-level professional pipers and judges in B.C. and any one of these could determine in minutes whether or not a piper is fit for performing in public. The food carts in Vancouver must be judged. I suggest the same for bagpipers.

According to a story in the Canadian Press, SFU Pipe Band Pipe Major Terry Lee is also relieved. “I think everyone should have the right for freedom of expression, especially in the cultural arts, and bagpipes in the right hands are a beautiful instrument.”

With warmer days ahead and summer approaching, I look forward to finally getting outside to play what is certainly “a beautiful instrument.” And it will be nice to do this without incurring a City of Vancouver ticket.

My former news colleague Ian Bailey, who I’m sure has an ear for traditional music from his reporting days in St. John’s, Newfoundland, has written an interesting story with the discovery that the City of Vancouver engineering department intends to ban the playing of bagpipes (and bongos, drums and tambourines) from the streets of Vancouver. (Ian’s story can be found here.) As you can suspect from the name of this blog, I don’t think very much of this plan.

I am not a busking bagpiper. In fact, I have never played for money on the streets of any of the Canadian cities I have lived in during the past 20+ years. I have certainly played for downtown pub crawls and parties in Halifax, St. John’s, Edmonton, Calgary, Surrey and Vancouver. I have had people walk up to me and hand me beer or whiskey, and most of my performances are either with a band or for individuals who have asked me to play for a private wedding, funeral, birthday party or head table. However I completely disagree with the idea of banning the pipes from the streets. For many young pipers, (and most busking pipers are younger players) playing on the street brings the sound of the marches, strathspey’s, reels, jigs and airs of our Celtic music to a wider population. It also provides a bit of income and practice time for the piper. A well tuned and played bagpipe can be a moving experience for many people of Scottish or Irish descent and for many who are not. The vast number of responses to Ian’s story in the Globe & Mail makes it clear that the  majority of readers disagree with the ban.

In the more than 25 years that I have been playing the pipes, I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard a disparaging remark about the pipes or the music. Detractors are a very small but vocal minority. Few have heard pipes played properly and their experience is likely due to listening to a new player who should really be behind doors until he/she is able to properly play a well tuned bagpipe in public. This is an instrument that has led Canadian troops into battle, provided moving memorials to former soldiers who served our country, has sparked dance floor sets in small community halls in Cape Breton and Antigonish, sent shivers down the spines of parade watchers and brought honour to Canada with the amazing abilities of the six time Grade One (the highest level) world champions SFU Pipe Band. In 1998, one lone complaint from a Burnaby resident almost led to the City of Burnaby banning the SFU band from practicing outside. A massive outcry quickly forced the City into retreat.

Now Vancouver is trying the same. In this province, British Columbia, we embrace all cultures. We welcome all nationalities; their culture, music, drive and of course, their usually wonderful food. It is what makes this province great. And Celtic music is part of that mosaic. The Scottish bagpipe is a loud instrument, but so are Harley Davidson’s, trucks, air planes, helicopters and emergency sirens. Shall we ban all these from our streets? This is a city that produces some of the best bagpipers in the world. The system of teaching is unparallelled elsewhere. BC is home to two Grade One pipe bands of only 29 worldwide (six in Canada).

This region has quite a few excellent professional bagpipers and judges. An alternative for the City would be to ask potential bagpiping street buskers to perform for one of these judges to determine their playing abilities. Most bagpipers are already used to playing for judges so this would be a reasonable expectation and it would keep the “off-key amateur’s” off the street and maintain a high level of playing and musicianship for the enjoyment of all.

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson (a BC Scot) has indicated he intends to see this ban reversed. “I’ve asked city staff to review this issue”, says Robertson. “Buskers play a very important role in making Vancouver’s streets lively and dynamic, particularly in our vibrant downtown.” He also mentions that banning certain instruments can be “culturally insensitive”.

I say “aye” to that. I’m sure Vancouver’s first mayor, Malcolm Alexander MacLean, a Gaelic speaking Scot from  Tyree, Argyllshire on Scotland’s west coast, has stopped rolling over in his grave.

For a taste of what a truly great pipe band sounds like, here’s Vancouver’s Grade One Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band competing at the 2011 Victoria Highland Games. Enjoy!

Celebrating International Bagpipe Day in Morpeth

Now here’s something I didn’t  know. International Bagpipe Day. It seems this auspicious occasion is celebrated in England at the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum in Morpeth, just south of the Scottish border. I’m sorry to say I missed the international celebration but it appears from the following news story published in the Morpeth Herald that a handful of bagpipers solemnly marked the occasion. I’ll mark it on my calendar for next year and make sure its importance is marked in 2013.

“PIPERS were calling the tune at Morpeth Chantry as players came together to celebrate International Bagpipe Day.

The celebration was marked in style at the Chantry Bagpipe Museum on Saturday, March 10, with 20 members of the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society and representatives of Tyneside Uilleann Pipers taking part.

Visitors were treated to performances from four nations, from the Northumbrian smallpipes to bagpipes hailing from the Borders, Ireland and even Sweden.

And the theme was carried on the following Monday as the museum played host to Belgian piper Jean Pierre Van Hees, who gave a talk and recital on the French musette.

Participants are already looking forward to next year’s event.”

Here’s a little bit of information about the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum:

Morpeth Chantry, courtesy MorpethNet.

“Morpeth’s Chantry bagpipe museum, whilst not quite unique, must be one of the UK’s most unusual museums. Its purpose is to be not only an interesting tourist attraction, and a magnet for the true bagpipe enthusiast, but to preserve and maintain interest and development in piping, along with its associated cultures. Special emphasis is given, not unnaturally, to the Northumbrian Small Pipes, the unique local instrument of Northumberland. To that end, the Museum’s accommodation is a regular venue for performance, discussion, workshops, lectures and lessons, all with a Northumbrian flavour.”

It was a bit cool, but the rain held off. And at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Vancouver, the bands, floats, Irish, Highland and even the normally annoying Morris dancers made for a wonderful parade through the downtown. Our band could not muster enough pipers and drummers to due to spring break vacations, but four bands, including VPD, Delta Police and the BC Regiment, Irish Pipes and Drums were there and added to the fun and celebratory atmosphere in the downtown. And with so many police with bagpipes, the crowd refrained from rioting afterward.

Here are a few photos shot by my daughter on my mobile phone. It captures a bit of the flavour of the day.

WorkSafe BC float

Here come the Delta Police Pipe Band.

Delta Police Drum Corps

More Irish dancers

2. Wear green. Dig out that green Christmas tie from your mother-in-law or your least favourite green sweater. It’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Today’s the day to flaunt the green. And for those who feel particularly pumped about St. Patrick’s Day, wear a leprechaun costume.

3.  Bring the whole family or group of friends to the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday, March 18. Wear your best green outfits, cheer on the bands and floats, and then make your way to a local pub for some Sunday morning Irish stew.

4.  Play Irish (or Celtic) music. There’s plenty of Irish music on the web. One of the best North American stations is out of Boston. Check out www.wgbh.org/celtic  or from Ireland, http://my.liveireland.com.  Let the tunes sing out and get the Irish spirit pumping.

5.  Wrap up the St. Patrick’s Day weekend with a taste of live Irish music, delivered by Elegwen O’Maoileoin and Michael Viens at Johnnie Fox’s Irish Snug, 1033 Granville Street.  Every Sunday night, this snug and authentic Irish pub hosts a number of musicians who “drop-in” to play. A great place to enjoy the music of Ireland, Scotland and beyond, over a pint of Guinness.

And a bonus idea…..

St. Patrick of Ireland

6.  Go to church.  This is, technically, a religious date and St. Patrick  is the patron saint of Ireland. The Christian missionary was originally from Wales but was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland. He escaped six years later, but after his priestly ordination and his elevation to bishop, he returned to Ireland to convert the heathen beasts. The shamrock, a three-leafed plant, was used to teach the Irish about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Legend has it that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day commemorates the date of his death, approximately 461 AD.

Edinburgh,  (ANI): Two communities in Tanzania have gained appreciation for making bagpipes from ethical sources of wood for the first time.

Most Highland bagpipes, other traditional Scottish pipes and clarinets are made from African blackwood, which comes from the rare and threatened mpingo tree found only in certain parts of Africa. Now, according to a report in The Scotsman, two communities in Tanzania have been awarded certification for managing their forests sustainably.

The villages – the first to get the award in Africa – are focusing on growing sustainable stocks of African blackwood. The certification, by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes responsible management of the world’s forests, means a market for ethically-sourced bagpipes can spring up.   Flora and Fauna International, involved in the Mpingo Conservation Project in Tanzania, said it was also a golden opportunity for the communities to lift themselves out of poverty. By taking control of the forests from international logging firms and selling responsibly harvested timber, the communities will be able to earn 250 times more from their woodlands – about 13 pounds per log compared with 5p before.

According to Greg Canning, retail manager at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, it would help protect stocks of the blackwood in the future.  “It will give the consumer a bit of choice. From our point of view, it’s encouraging. It’s a hugely positive step. If nothing else, it means there will be a sustainable source of blackwood. There is a fear that the resources are really dwindling,” he said.

“Previously, we just used blackwood without thought, but we have learned that it is a valuable resource. Now, we see that we can utilize our stocks to benefit us all as villagers,” said Kikole village chairman Mwinyimkuu Awadhi.

“When we started this project, we began to see the benefits that could arise from managing our forests,” local farmer Mwanaiba Ali Mbega said. “Now, we have reached the stage of certification we are confident we are going to bring long-term benefits that we will be able to pass on to our grandchildren,” he added. (ANI)

Here`s a nice example of Cape Breton piping in the far west. Barry Shears, a well known piper, judge and bagpipe historian from Nova Scotia, performing outside the `Wandering Angus`store in Port Townsend, Washington State. Barry was teaching at the springtime Féis Shiàtail (Seattle Festival) along with Cape Breton fiddler-step dancer Andrea Beaton. This set of jigs you would hear at a square dance at a small parish hall in Cape Breton. The piper would be sitting down, a piano player accompanying  him or her, and the floorboards would be bending with the number of people dancing. Barry follows up this set with `This Old Man`and inexplicably, some Christmas tunes.