A Lifetime of Bagpiping…

I am a professional bagpiper with over 25 years experience. I began learning at the age of 11 after falling in love with the sound of the pipes whilst on holiday in Aberfeldy, Scotland. My mother being Scottish encouraged me to learn and asked a piper named Alec Maclean to teach me. Alec kindly dedicated much of his free time to teaching me and eventually introduced me to The Seaforth Highlanders, based in Mansfield. I performed with them for almost two years. This involved playing at weddings, carnivals and remembrance day parades. As my piping improved I craved new challenges so Alec introduced me to the Ashbourne Pipes and Drums band.  I competed and performed with them for several years in grades 3 and 4. In recent years I have been a prominent member of Manchester Phoenix Pipe Band and competed with the band at major championships. In 2016 and 2018 we won the All England Championships at Chatsworth.  

Appearances at Special Events

Some of the public events I  have played at include:

• In 2007 I played at Sheffield Scimitar’s Neil Abel’s testimonial ice hockey match
• In 2007 I was invited to play The Sheffield Highland Fling
• The IIFA 2007 (Bollywood Awards) at Sheffield Arena
  AMA International Karate Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield
• The reopening of the Carlton Hotel in Rotherham
• In 2009 I helped make an advert for the Rugby League’s Magic Weekend
• In 2011 I played at the National Railway Museum in York for the unveiling of the Flying Scotsman
• I have appeared playing at weddings featured on the ITV series ‘The Lake’s as well as ‘The Dales’.
• In 2015 I was booked to play at a wedding in Dubrovnik which was an incredible experience.
• I have been hired twice to play for tributes at Hull Kingston Rovers
• In 2017 myself and piper Stephen Plumb were invited to play at Old Trafford for a Man United match against Southampton as part of New Year celebrations. 
• In 2017 and 2019 I was hired alongside Stephen Plumb to play at Struan and Anneli Marshall’s private villa in Ibiza 
• In 2019 I was invited to play at East Midlands airport for the launch of the East Midlands to Inverness flight route.  

Repeat Bookings

I’m booked every year to play at Abbeydale Omega in Sheffield for their Burns night celebrations.  I play guests into dinner at the Thorpe Park Hotel each year in Leeds for their New Years Eve ball and I play the New Year in at Napoleon’s Casino in Hillsborough, Sheffield. A number of funeral directors in Sheffield, Leeds, Barnsley, Manchester, and  Nottingham frequently use me as their first port of call when their clients need a bagpiper.

Army Bagpipe Tutor and Private Tutor

I have been teaching the bagpipes at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate for over seven years. This involves taking a class of beginners every Monday evening. I also teach privately from home and I have two students that have become full time members of The Sheffield Pipe Band.

Available For Any Occasion

I am currently available to hire for public and private functions including weddings, funerals, birthday parties, and corporate events, etc. I play a mixture of traditional and modern Scottish and Irish music and I am always happy to learn specific tunes for bookings provided I am given enough notice. When booked for events I always aim to arrive an hour prior to my start time. This allows for any minor traffic issues and it gives me time to setup and get my pipes in tune and singing beautifully.

Scottish Pipers For Hire

I run the website www.scottishpipersforhire.com and I have a network of professional bagpipers from all over the UK. If I’m not available for any event I can always supply an alternative piper or if I’m booked for an event and I fall ill (very rarely does anything stop me from playing the pipes!!!!) I can provide a suitable alternative