Here Comes the Bride

Bagpipers are becoming more popular at weddings. Many people are unsure of what the role of the piper at a wedding is, when he should play and what tunes are best.

The Wedding

The bagpiper (at the entrance to the chapel) traditionally pipes guests in and out of the ceremony playing medleys of traditional Scottish marches and aires including Scotland the Brave, etc. It is also traditional but not always requested for the piper to pipe the bride down the aisle, maybe play during the signing of the register and then pipe the newlywed couple out of the ceremony. In my experience the bride has always had a tune in mind for being piped down the aisle and in this part of the world that tune has generally been The Wedding March (“Here comes the Bride”). If asked to play during the signing of the register it is almost always Amazing Grace or occasionally Highland Cathedral.

Afterwards

The next point of call for the piper is to have him play during the taking of the photos (off camera and in the background). Traditionally what the piper plays is at his discretion and will include medleys of marches, jigs and reels to entertain guests. It is often required of the piper to pose in several photos, usually just with the bride and groom and any photos of just men wearing kilts.

At the Reception

The piper is not always required to play at the wedding reception but if he does it is traditional for him to pipe in the guests and then pipe the bride and groom to the top table (and be presented with a whiskey for doing so.) The tune he will pipe the bride and groom in with is usually one that will get guests clapping. Scotland the Brave never fails or Gerry Owen and neither do numbers such as The Minstrel Boy or The Rising of the Moon (AKA The Wearing of the Green).

More is less

As with all piping you must remember the pipes have a loud and commanding presence. Used even slightly to excess they will detract from any service. Therefore this is the most I would consider using a piper at a wedding. Many opt for much less, using the Piper to punctuate the event at one or two key points.

Piper's Field of Dreams

“Build it and they will come.” Great premise for a movie, but a little out of touch with the real world. If you’re looking to turn a buck with your music you need a strategic approach that will expose the maximum number of people possible to all aspects of your performance, clubs, parties, events, and yes recordings. Each is a facet of your profession that must not only shine, but must seamlessly interlink to every other facet.

Your pub performances should be a platform for promoting your party gigs and recordings, etc. just as your recording should promote your pub gigs and parties and your party gigs should promote everything as well.

Do this on the Web with your various sites and you will go “viral”. That is what you want to do with your music. Use the web as a tool or tactic to help link yourself together into a package that everyone wants a piece of.

Then, play your a$$ off! It’s what you love doing anyway, and that is contagious. Your linked out persona will result in as many opportunities as you need to be in front of your market. Give your performances away if you must in order to be out there. If you build the following, the following will in time take care of you.

That is what must be built and if it is then the dollars will come.

2010 1000 Stand

2010-1000 Stand is a charitable initiative which provides developing nations access to fresh water via Play Pumps (manually operated water well pumps). Please read more about their efforts at http://1000stand.com/.


To support these efforts I have released a single of Amazing Grace (Amazing Grace / Michael Neal McGee) that will be available through CDBaby, Amazon.com, Itunes, and almost every other source of digitally deliverable tunes. It will cost $0.99, of which $0.70 will go to me. The direct website is: http://cdbaby.com/cd/MichaelNealMcGee

I in turn will donate 100% of all monies received between now and July 16th (my Birthday) to 2010-1000 on July 16th, 2010.

It doesn’t take a government to help your fellow man, just a heart.

Pops

Techno - Piper

I'm trying to step into this century.. Yes its true, I'm setting up sites on MySpace.com, YouTube.com, Ilike.com, thumbtack.com, twitter.com, trying to inter-link them, my existing websites, and my gigsalad.com site.......  good Lord, I thought learning to pipe was difficult!  Even with the grandkids showing me what I've done wrong (far more often than I've "done right") I don't grasp it!

I'm thinking that the best thing I can do is leave it to the kids, and go learn a new tune or two.   Far less stressful, and for me just as rewarding.

Western Shrine Association

Well, the WSA (Western Shrine Association) has come and gone.  What a great time!  Parade units from everywhere.  It took almost an hour for all the units to pass (and it was only a fifteen minute parade route through "Olde Towne Tempe").  Old freindships were newed and new ones forged.   Fifteen new Nobles were initiated.  The City of Tempe and the Tempe Mission Palms were truly gracious hosts.  We all came away with a renewed comittment to our Shrine Hospitals and their mission.  The very best thing is that "It is all about the Kids"!

Our next Shrine parade isn't until June 19th, up in Prescott Valley.  We'll all be ready!

The 5th Street & Farmers Bagpipe Hip Hop Band

Sometimes we get a little too impressed with ourselves, take ourselves a little too serious and over estimate our place in society. Yesterday I had a “Reality Check”. A friend up in Mohave County called me looking for a bagpiper for a Cancer Awareness Walkathon weekend after next. He couldn’t find one but was certain I could. After scouring my PDA, the internet, and every other contact I had, it suddenly occurred to me that I was the only piper in the area when I left 3 years ago. No matter how important we think we are there simply are not that many of us! We are at best a rare oddity in this part of the world!

White Tanks Cemetery improvements

I just returned from my weekly visit to White Tanks Cemetery. Though I must confess, with Dad’s recent illness this was the first visit since early March. Regardless, Maricopa County has done a wondrous job of upgrading the landscaping. There are new cinder paths through out the facility, fresh crushed granite everywhere, including the southern half which lacked any improvements until now. There are new benches, and from the looks of it there will be some new trees placed about as well. Is it “Forest Lawn”? No, of course not but it is dignified and does reflect the proper amount of human compassion. Kudos to the Maricopa County Fiduciary. When you got the funds you did the right thing!

A Season of New Hope

Thursday before St. Patty’s Day and Dad winds up in the heart Hospital. At ninety this was nothing to take lightly. Still, he is a tough old Marine and pulled through in better shape than when he went down. None the less the stress of those two weeks pretty much eclipsed the festivities of St. Patty’s this year. However, the relief brought about by his remarkable recovery has filled us all with new joy. And at Easter no less, a wondrous time to celebrate new hope. I hope the season puts as much spark into your life as well (though without the stress of course).

Slainte,
Pops