Million Pound Record Deal

This is the off season in terms of my bagpiping. My band has no upcoming gigs and we are focusing on learning new tunes for our next season. It's hard to keep myself motivated both in practicing my new tunes and in regularly posting here!

At any rate, I ran across an interesting article by Adam Sherwin in the Times Online about the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are a cavalry regiment in the British army and the most senior of the Scottish regiments.

Their Pipes and Drums recently signed a 1 million pound record deal with Universal Music. This is the same record company that puts out music for Amy Whinehouse and 50 Cent so it's a big deal. And it shows that bagpipe music is a serious force to be reckoned with in the music world.

Their album will include traditional Scottish tunes as well as Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney and Sailing by Rod Stewart. So it sounds like it will be a diverse album with something for everyone.

This quote from their Pipe Major Derek Potter is great, “The pipes are an integral part of our regiment and we take huge pride in our music. We’ve even had to impose a curfew on pipes practice, as the rehearsals disturb the nonpipers among us.” It reminds me of the curfew I put on myself when I'm practicing as I tend to practice in the evenings.

Although I've pretty much paraphrased/summarized the article you can read it in full if you like.
Pipe on!