Check out the photos (copy & paste address below for photos)

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t8/tomspiping/Old%20Drones/

UPDATE: I am pleased to announce that the Worcester Kilties took 3rd place out of 7 Bands.  Not band for our first contests.  Next up Hunter Mountain August 16th.

Thanks again to Highland Dance Boston and Congratulations for a job well done!

We are very excited to be putting on our own concert for the second time! Come join us as we perform our favorite dances and choreographies to a combination of live and recorded music. Musicians include fiddler Barbara McOwen, pianist Beth Murray, pipers Tom Childs and Mike MacNintch, as well as members of HDB. We also feature special guest dancer, Andy Taylor-Blenis.

Tickets: $15
May be purchased from an HDB member, or reserved by email: hdbtickets@gmail.com

3:30 pm Sunday, June 14, 2009
Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth St, Boston, MA
(Entrance is on Buick Street)

Also, I am piping with the Worcester Kiltie Pipe Band this year and it has been a real pleasure to play in this fine pipe corp.  I find that I have to practice quite often and that’s a good thing for my piping.  The Worcester kiltie Pipe band is getting better and better and I am excited about attending some upcoming Scottish Games where the Band will be competing.

I have just become affiliated with the Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums I will be an instructor to the pipe corp.  This is a great group of people and I am looking forward to great times ahead with this group. I know it will be fun.  I first ran into the Greater Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums at Fanuiel Hall on St. Patrick’s Day and I jumped into the ranks with them as we proceeded to march into some of the local night spots where we gave an inprompto pipe band concert to every one’s delight.  It was a great evening and from that I know we’ll have more good times to come.

UPDATE:  The performance was a success.  The dances were performed beautifully.  I played smallpipes along with my friend Mike MacNintch on Scottish Smallpipes and Tom Pixton on accordion.  It was a real treat to play with this group for this performance.  I look forward to the Highland Dance Boston summer concert coming in June 2009.

A Thankyou letter from the President Jimmy Carter for our participation in his inaugural parade

I was looking through some of my piping stuff and I came across this letter and I thought it would be an interesting post for my blog. I remember that this parade was my very first parade, first time in a kilt and first time in a parade with bagpipes. I had joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1976, so I could be a piper in their pipe band. I was given a Pakistani made practice chanter and was told if I could play The Rowan Tree on the chanter I would be issued a Pakistani made bagpipe and kilt and I could travel to Washington DC to march in the parade. We actually were only a parade route band and did not march the parade, we stood outside the J. Edgar Hoover building and played. I remember it was brutally cold. I also saw President Carter as he walked past us. This was the beginning of my piping career.

The schedule for the pub crawl is as follows;

• The Chieftain on Washington Street in Plainville, MA from 4 to 5 pm
• Nappertandy’s 46 Day Street Norwood, MA  5:30 to 6:30 pm
•  The British Beer Company Route 1 Walpole, Ma 7 to 8 pm
• Fitzy’s Pub 1 Man Mar Drive, Plainville, MA 8:30pm

It sounds like it will be fun.  See you there

Update:  I survived the deluge of Bass Ale.  I met lots of interesting people and had a really good time.  I look forward to another outing in the future for Quality Beverage.  Thanks to Quality Beverage for this event.  Well done!