Droning On

If you are into smallpipes and have an internet connection, you've probably heard of or seen traces of Rod due to his playing, his participation in groups like the LBPS, Cairdeas, and the Pipers Gathering, etc not to mention his recently released album with folk band, "Fire in the Glen," as well as his many highland piping exploits -- but did you know that he also plays trombone, conducts choirs,...

Kalare is a Doctor, and we can refer to her as such everywhere except inside a hospital. She studies, plays, teaches, practices, and recently picked up the pipes - she's rapidly becoming a pro aquarist and we didn't even get to the epic photo of her walking toward a helicopter: like, what? Does she also fly whirlybirds? Tune into this episode to hear about how Homeschool-Kids can do whatever they...

Jeremy returns to the Droning On Podcast to talk more about Bagpipes & History! It’s been about a year since his Bannocks of Barley Meal album came out, and we talk through some, (though not all,) of the tracks, play some samples, I hope you’ll enjoy joining us for a great conversation that’s probably setting a new length-record for the show! Tune into this episode to hear enough bagpipe-bante...

Put very simply: Liz helps people, especially kids, effected by war. She does so through music. She uses a lot of penny whistles to do this. I hope you'll enjoy this conversation, I really enjoyed talking with Liz and learning about what her organization does to help people effected by war around the world. (HEADS UP: some dark/heavy things come up in this conversation, just FYI, the kind of stuff...

She's a piper, she's a drummer, she's a home builder, and she was once 16 going on 17 -- it's Leisel! A truly lovely human giving her precious time to join me for a truly lovely interview. I apologize that due to my own technical difficulties the sound quality isn't pristine in this episode. I do hope it's at least reasonably palatable because it was a joy to get to know Leisel a bit more and I ho...

Tim is a unique guy living a unique life doing unique things - bagpipery and otherwise! I feel really bad I had to rush this interview. A rare thing I usually try to plan to not do, but there were some technical difficulties on the day of recording that not only restricted our conversation time, they also forced me to use a different platform and hardware than I usually do, and it was all rather a...

It's a three-episode month! It was a delight to get to know Scott during this episode - in spite of living in the same part of the country and having a lot of mutual friends, Scott and I had never spoken before this interview. He's a long-time bagpipe, a long-ago accordion, and he's one of the very, very few people in the world who can say he works for a railroad in Nebraska, USA. Tune into this e...

Jenna is a talented multi-instrumentalist bagpiper, instructor, composer, and is generally willing to just try quirky stuff, especially when it comes to music, and especially-especially when it comes to bagpipes. The opening track on this episode is Pacolet performed by Jenna, originally written by PM Don Bradford. The closing track is just a taste of Scodatura, written and performed by Jenna. Tun...

I wish I'd come up with some great April Fools joke, it'll be a while before another episode releases on April Fools... Still, I hope this is an enjoyable interview, I sure enjoyed chatting with Jeff! Tune into this episode to hear me refer to Jeff's piano playing as, "unique..." *I'm not sure where, precisely, Jeff's album will be available when it releases, but I'll be sure to post about it on s...

Liam Winnett is a whistle kid turned accordion man turned uilleann piper abroad & he's a delight to talk to as well! You may have seen him playing his uilleann pipes inside a horse trailer... if not, there's a link below... I apologize this episode's out a bit late, St Patrick's Day did me dirty this year. But to make it up to you, I'm giving away a $35 BagpipeSwag.com gift card! DETAILS FOR T...

Through unpredictable twists and turns of fate Bruce's accumulated experience prepared him uncannily well to address the challenge faced by one of his close friends when he (the friend,) could no longer inflate his pipe bag. Bruce is a delightful human and I hope you'll enjoy learning about not only his very cool invention, but about him as well! Tune into this episode to hear Bruce reveal what's,...

One half of the, "Wheezer & Squeezer," duo, ( https://wheezerandsqueezer.com/ ) Jeremiah McLane plays a bellows-blown reed instrument, but it ain't bagpipes... but he plays along with bagpiper Timothy Cummings. It's often (delightfully) surprised me how many pipers also play accordion, or want to play accordion, so I thought talking with an accordionist would be fun - especially one with so mu...

You've almost definitely heard of today's guest and almost as definitely heard his voice as well, whether you were looking for help to improve your piping, just starting your piping journey and seeking instruction, or possibly a really tasteful quote played from the soundboard at opportune moments on the Chanter Rant podcast... In any case, get ready to hear Andrew Douglas a lot more in this marat...

Genuinely, this group gets me into such a groove - I have not yet traveled every road in this world, but based upon those which I have traveled, The Freestylers of Piping are unique, singular, and so so groovy. Tune into this episode to hear what happened when Perseus and Medusa decided to... "part"... And here's a first: you can support the Freestylers and Droning On by buying The Freestylers of...

Some people dedicate their whole life to one art, skill, craft, or area of research-focus. Steph has, somehow, managed to cram multiple whole-lives-of-focus into one and she's still not done! Having recently released, "The Beginner Years," the third in her series of excellent music-related, (often bagpipe/drum-specific,) books, we're excited to release this episode at the beginning of a new year....

Jeff has returned! You may well remember him from his excellent shortbread recipe and more in past episodes - today he's come back to share some background about & recordings of four familiar holiday tunes that fit on the pipes! Several of the recordings you'll hear in this episode are based on Timothy Cummings' settings in his holiday collection available here: https://birchenmusic.com/produc...

Katie's been entertaining and inspiring folk in and out of piping since she started her impressively fast-paced bagpipe journey. From busking to competing, to recently joining the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland: follow her on social media platforms, (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc) to see what's next @thewheeledpiper Tune into this episode to hear Katie say, of learning to play bagpipes at...

Just for fun: a mega marathon of all past Holiday Episodes! If you're not into it, no sweat, the regularly scheduled episode will be out next week. To get one of these cool North Pole & District T-shirts at the special promo price of $15, just go to BagpipeSwag.com, there'll be a banner at the top of the site through the rest of December, 2022. Or go to this link. Thanks, Happy Holidays friend...

The Chanter Rant guys have done a lot of terrible things, and a lot of awesome things. Among the latter is helping this man's philosophy, work ethic, strategizing, and handsome face come more fully into the awareness of the international competitive pipe band community. Tune into this episode to hear Joe promise, on record, to never play Cajun Grace again... Here's a link to Wake & District's...

Given his background in aviation one might assume that Dave's, "drone work," has to do with the kind that fly around in the sky - but no, Dave's been hard at work perfecting both design and production methodology to bring solid, reliable, good-sounding 3D printed GHB drones to the masses! Dave was recently featured in Big Rab's episode #299, (also, congrats to Rab on 300 - holy moly!) There's a li...

Tam O'Shanter is a popular poem, maybe especially around this time of year. I convinced my own padre to do a reading for the episode in English, and then got permission from Scots Hoose to use a really excellent pro-recording they had of Hamish MacDonald reading the poem in Scots. Not to mention: amazing musical score provided by Jeremy of the Wetootwaag Bagpipes & History Podcast. Check out t...

PROMO: Month of October, 2022, only -- special edition of this shirt at crazy-cheap price: https://www.bagpipeswag.com/ (the mug too, but it only ships in the USA). Get one of those, tag @bagpipe.swag in a post wearing/using it, and you'll be entered into a drawing on November 1st for a $45 BagpipeSwag.com gift card! --------------------Normal show notes--------------------- Laura has been living...

Marc's back! No marriage proposal this time, but plenty of great insight, stories, and ideas about how to be a good Pipe Sergeant! Tune into this episode to hear Marc sum-up the duties of a Pipe Sergeant as, "be the sheepdog". If you want to check out the Pride Pipers, here's their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069227525235 - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/...

If you haven't heard of JD, you've probably at least heard JD (he's the new voice of the Weekly Drone on The Big Rab Show) - and if you haven't heard JD there's at least a chance you've been in a plane that he touched at some point during production... Tune into this episode to hear about the time JD played pipes for a porn star... and the time he played at a (I'm guessing) illegal cage fight... a...

If you've ever been impressed by production quality in a penny whistle tutorial on YouTube, you were probably watching Sean. A self-proclaimed, "recovering highland bagpiper," Sean joins me to talk about whistles & why, (I'm sure,) all pipers and drummers should pick up a whistle. Tune into this episode to hear Sean extol that ever-popular musical genre: Elf Metal. If you're looking to get a l...