Piping the sun down from the top of the world

Every night from May 1 through September 30, I will be piping the sun down at the Golf Club at Newcastle. This will be my sixth summer as the Resident Piper for the Golf Club at Newcastle. The club is open to the public--not a private course--so come up for dinner or drink out on the terrace, or just to walk around and enjoy the incredible view while I play. Thanks to Richard Williams for this photo, taken May 3, 2009. Trust me, the sunsets become much more colorful than this and are always different.

Art Institute of Seattle Graduation

Today, while playing for the Art Institute of Seattle's graduation I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Tom Douglas. If you're from Seattle and you've not heard of him you've been living under a culinary rock for the last 20 years. Award winning Chef Douglas has raised Seattle's world food notoriety with his great restaurants Etta's, Palace Kitchen, and Dahlia lounge, as well as his cookbooks.

Chef Douglas was the guest speaker for the graduation which included culinary students under the tutelage of Chef Ian Mackay, who coincidentally is the son of long time Seattle bagpipe instructor Don Mackay. It is indeed a small world.

His speech focused on the question "What Is Success?" Broadly, his definition is that we are successful when we give ourselves options. Any time in my life I felt stuck, or in a rut, I certainly felt only frustration, not success, so this made sense to me. He also said we need to work as hard, if employed by someone else, as we would for ourselves. Well, I didn't always do that but sure could've convinced you, and my boss, that I did.

Chef Douglas also said it's important to give back to the community, with which I heartily agree. He said it's an obligation, not an option. Too many people are only looking for what they can get, not what they have to give to others who have less. I've blogged on this before, scroll down and read more....

But what I really took away is that like Chef Douglas, I've found an occupation, if you can really call it that, that is infinitely satisfying to me. I'm following my bliss, as Joseph Campbell put it. And as such, it ceases to be "work". I have more self-satisfaction and flexibility than at any other time in my work life. In these difficult economic times I'm not at the mercy of one employer who, like multi-national BMG, laid me off in 2003 due to declining music sales.

Instead my livelihood flows to me from limitless sources, evidence that my options are wide open.

Seattle Fire Fighters Bang & Blow

Now in its 4th year, the Seattle Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums are enjoying their busiest year of gigs so far, and with that increased public visibility, more media attention. Spencer Nelson, Pipe Major, and founder of the band was recently interviewed on KUOW, Seattle's NPR outlet, about the tradition of fire department pipe bands and the everpresent dangers of being a fire fighter.

Since late 2007, I've been the band's piping instructor, which has been an honor and great experience for me. Practices are held either at Station 28 in Rainer Valley or Station 14 in Sodo. Since we play in the bay where the engines and ladders are parked, practices are often disrupted by a call. Band members who are on duty at the time drop their instruments to get in the trucks to go do their work as Seattle's Bravest. These guys are a dedicated, hard working, passionate, tight knit bunch. Oh, and funny as hell. And probably slightly crazy. Think about it: they run IN to a burning building while everyone else is running OUT.

Look for them them around town on St. Patrick's Day at McCormicks, Fado, Murphy's, Owl & Thistle and other Irish pubs. Buy 'em a beer, they'll be thirsty!

No cheeze or schmaltz on this CD!

I've been meaning to post about Jori Chisholm's new CD "Bagpipe Revolution" since I purchased it on Oct 23. I had not intended to write a whole "review". I used to write record reviews professionally and the reason I stopped is that I found a) my opinion really isn't important, it's just my opinion, b) once in print a review becomes "forever", so if my point of view changes it's hard to correct, and c) if someone doesn't like what I wrote, a year or two later, they come to me and say "how could you write that! How dare you!"

That caveat aside, I'll just briefly say I quite like Bagpipe Revolution. The CD has a wide variety of expression, given the use of Highland pipes, small pipes, and concert tuned pipes, accompanied by piano, steel pedal guitar (a great touch), electric guitar, and percussion.

Jori avoids many of my personal pet peeve pitfalls of pipe recordings (I know, too many peas) that attempt to incorporate other instrumentation. You won't hear any cheezy Casio keyboard accompaniment here. Nor will you hear any overbearing disco bass drum pounding. And thankfully the folkish settings are absent that schmaltzy bean sprout-stuck-in-the-teeth-folksy-wolksy vibe. You know what I mean, and if you don't, rent "A Mighty Wind". But being the purist I am, I would have liked a couple more tracks of solo piping without extra instruments.

Most impressive to me is the rendition of the piobaireachd "Too Long In This Condition". On it's own it's a feat to lay down a perfect tune that's over nine minutes long. There are ample opportunities for error and for the pipe to go out of tune--you did do this in one take, right Jori? What makes this so impressive is that Jori recorded a harmony part. That doubles the chance for error and potentially complicates the recording process. But the tuning stays sweet and the execution perfect throughout, resulting in a beautiful version of this tune.

So, enough on the opining. I'll leave it to those more qualified and just say congratulations to Jori on releasing the first recording by a Seattle based bagpiper. Piping recordings are unusual in that, for example, any and every local rock band releases their recordings. Many are awful. Pipers, however, seem to have some level of humility, or fear of humiliation, or just the good judgment, not to foist their mediocre recordings on the world.

Jori has the good judgment--and piping skills to back it up--to have released Bagpipe Revolution. Now click on the link and support your local piper. And I'll get back to keeping my opinion to myself.

G i v i n g _ B a c k

Something I consider very important is giving something back to the community. Now, I haven't always felt this way, and used as an excuse that I didn't know what I could do. We can all do something if we put a bit of thought into it.

I donate my piping services each year for a select group of charities I feel a personal affinity toward. In each case, I came upon them not exactly by accident, but through serendipity or synchronicity. I know, two big words that simplified could just mean 'chance.' But I don't believe there are any accidents.

Camp Korey is a place for kids suffering from serious and life threatening illnesses to go and have some fun. It is one of Paul Newman's (pictured above at Camp Korey) Hole In The Wall Camps. Korey Rose was an inspiring young man who died from cancer in his teens. I played at his graveside service in Enumclaw in 2004. What blew me away about this service, is that usually a small gathering of family and friends of the deceased attend a graveside. This one was attended by well over 300 people. Korey's father, Tim Rose, a Senior Vice President at Costco, worked with Newman to purchase the old Carnation Farm from Nestle to create Camp Korey. It was a moving experience to visit there and pipe for Leanore Curran's Highland dancers to entertain the kids.

Back in the summer I was hired to play for a gentleman's 50th birthday party. 50! Wow! Now THAT'S old! When I arrived at the home where the party was I was introduced on the way in to the the son of the Half Centurian. M.R. was in one of those fully loaded motorized wheel chairs. He looked to me to be about 22 years old. What, I thought, befell this beautiful kid to put him this spot?

I had to go play, so I went around to the back yard, made my surprise entrance, congratulated the guest of honor at having endured a half century and played some more tunes to entertain the gathered friends and family. As I spoke with one guest, she told me that M.R. (Michael Ryan Pattison) had suffered a severe spinal injury a few years ago diving into shallow water in Lake Chelan, and that he had started a foundation to raise money to support therapy for those with spinal cord injuries. Are there really no accidents? We went and had another conversation with M.R. and immediately I decided to volunteer my services to play at the upcoming fund raising auction at the Glendale Golf Club in Bellevue, and offer myself as a live auction item. A no brainer.

A Cure Is Coming is the Michael Ryan Foundation's website. The auction raised some $70,000. The experience of being part of such an event is always gratifying, humbling and extremely rewarding. Try it sometime!

Again, how I came to be connected with the other organizations I support were completely random. With Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing - KITH - the piper who normally played their event was ill. So I filled in and have played the 7 Hills of Kirkland bike ride every year since. I've also played their annual fund raising banquet the past 2 or 3 years. KITH provides housing to people facing homelessness on the Eastside. It's a worthy cause.

Same with The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I play at 2 or 3 Luminaria ceremonies at the relay each summer. All of us know someone who's had cancer. It's too damn common.

I met the wife of Chris Elliott, of CEF, a non-profit she started to help people with glioblastoma, a nasty brain cancer, at the birthday party of a friend of Chris's wife. In October of this year I played for their auction at the Newcastle Golf Club.

So if you're wondering where you can be of service, where you can chip in, where you can do something that will make a difference for someone whose life is not as easy as yours, these places are a good start. Or you may already have an organization you support; if so, good on ya. If not, it only takes the slightest glance around, or a seemingly 'random' moment to find a way to help out. You'll be amazed how gratifying it is.

Amazing Cake, How Sweet The Sound

A few weeks ago I had the honor of playing for Matt Carrithers' 40th birthday. It was a pretty special night all around. The venue, Schmidt House, in Tumwater, the home built for the founder Olympia Brewery, is beautifully restored. The friends and family gathered shared some heartfelt and hilarious stories about Matt.

But it was the birthday cake that everyone will remember. Even to my eye it looked like a real bagpipe, and didn't at all look edible. It was made by Mike's Amazing Cakes, in Redmond. Not only was it accurately reproduced down to an authentic tartan and clan crest, but it was delicious.

A Day of Music and Art

I will be performing at a celebration of Benaroya Hall's 10th anniversary this Sunday Sept 14. I will be playing outside the hall in the Rememberance Garden at the corner of 2nd and University from 12:15 to 12:45.

Be sure to stop by and say "HI"!