You know you're going to have a good piping year when all your reeds meld and stabilize just at the right time. The year started with a trip to NZ to play with my good friend Alasdair MacKenzie and the Invercargill Pipe Band at the NZ Nationals. What a great reason to travel! I got to see a lot of friends and got those hands going early for later on in the summer. Also, who doesn’t love having two summers?

2018 was my first year traveling to Maxville to play in the Canadian Gold Medal. This takes place in the morning on the first Friday in August or there about, and if you win the event you are then allowed the opportunity to play in the afternoon with the other former winners. This is called the Bar to the Gold Medal. When the pipe comes together and consistently locks in, you get so much more confidence to play a good tune. As it happens I was fortunate to be last on in the morning so I was fully awake and the pipe came together for a winning performance. Then, I was asked to play first on in the afternoon in the senior contest. The pipes must have locked because they never moved and I was lucky enough to win that event as well. The third person in history to win both in the same day and a hugely deserved beer that afternoon!

I was off to Scotland from there to record for BBC Radio Scotland’s Pipeline program. You can’t listen to it anymore but here’s the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000m4t

After that was the two meetings, Oban and Inverness. I got close this time in that Gold Medal, getting placed a second at Oban! Still working on those ones. Inching closer every year.