Lots of Graduates....

Jill & tom listen intently to names of graduates.

When's Lunch?

Waiting for commencement at college of the ozarks.

This Weekend

This weekend some of us are heading up to Missouri to play one of our longstanding gigs, the commencement at the College of the Ozarks. This will be my third year in a row to do it, and I have to say it's one of my favorites. The students are always excited about graduating and more than a little bit confused about seeing people in kilts running around.

By the end of the ceremony everyone is always so nice to us, though, and the confused looks quickly turn to handshakes and high fives.

I only hope the commencement speaker isn't too boring.

I'll try and do my first mobile post from the ceremony on Sunday.

cheers,
~Mark

Exciting Times

For the first time in a while, the band didn't compete at the Arkansas Scottish Festival in Batesville last month. It was a real bummer when we had to come to the decision to sit one out. We work really hard to prepare for the few competitions that we go to and I hate to miss one. A few of the band members went and marched in massed bands and had a great time, but it's not the same.

The Highlanders are currently in one of those "transisition" periods that so often shake up pipe bands. Sometimes these are devastating, but I think this one is going to pay off great dividends in the near future. We have a new Pipe Major who is really challenging us to do our best (just like our old one did, thanks Linda), have a few newer pipers who are really coming into their own and some more new pipers who should be joining us soon, and are starting both a piping and a drumming class next month. These are exciting times for us, as the band is changing right before our eyes. It's a pretty amazing thing that the Ozark Highlanders have managed to stay around for more then 20 years, and the future looks very bright for us. We are currently working on a new competition set that we will debut in September at the Oklahoma Scottish Games and the last few weeks have left me with a great sense of optimism. Our pipers are really hammering out the fine details of their music and are really focusing on playing musically and the drum corps has been presented with some tougher music than we've played before and they are really stepping up to the plate.

Look for us to turn some heads in Tulsa in a few months....

21st Century Pipe Band

Well, we've decided it's time to start a blog for the pipe band. The last couple of years has seen a lot of technology changes for the Highlanders, starting with the debut of our new website and continuing with our band page on MySpace and our online forums. It all seems to have been pretty successful thus far, so we thought a blog would be the next place to go. We hope you enjoy it, and it will be a great place to hear about the more current news for the band (updating the news section on the website is generally only reserved for bigger stuff), and also get a glimpse into what we are doing on a more regular basis.

We've come a long way from the time when some lunatic stuck some hollow sticks in a sheep hide and thought "I think I'll blow in this and make some music."

All kidding aside, all of this new technology adds a lot to the piping and drumming community. There is a great comraderie amongst pipe bands the world over, always has been I suppose, but now we are not confined to sharing stories (and beers) at Highland games. Many of us are in regular contact with other musicians the world over, and the ability to dissiminate ideas is vital in the progression of the genre.

Now.....if only I could figure out a way for my computer to buy me a Guinness at the Beer Tent....