For the love of bagpipes

The unique sound of bagpipes draws a crowd – the curious and those with a deep love for the instrument – but it also has a knack of bringing people together, something the Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band has been doing for more than 70 years.

Pipe Sergeant Jim Lowe, who started playing as a schoolboy, loves the reaction from audiences and passersby.

“When you get the sound right, and the crowd appreciates it, then you feel that appreciation come back,” Jim explains.

“When I started learning, the bloke who was teaching me said ‘learn to play pipes and you’ll never be without a friend’.

“It’s so true. Everywhere you go, somebody will come up to you and start talking.”

In fact, it’s how he connected with the Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band more than four years ago during a visit to the Redcliffe Markets.

“We heard the band playing over here ... so I wandered down,” he recalls.

Jim chatted with the group, when they had a break, and joined soon afterwards.

The Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band started in 1953. It is part of key events such as ANZAC Day but also plays at the Redcliffe foreshore once or twice a month for the joy of performing but also to further connect with the community.

The band will host a Scottish Ceilidh on October 11 at Hercules Road State School from 6-10pm. It will be an evening of Scottish music, singing and dancing including a Highland dancing display and Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band performance.

Jim, who was born in Scotland and migrated to Australia in the 1960s with his family as an eight-year-old, says he joined the school band ‘quite by chance’ and chose the bagpipes over the drums because lessons were straight after school once a week.

“Growing up and assimilating into Australian culture I didn’t want to know anything about Scotland,” he explains.

“I was an NCO in the school cadet unit and they said ‘you’ve got the best drill, we want you to be drum major of the pipe band’. The band master said you should know something about the music – do you want to learn pipes or drums?

“It was one of those things I picked up really quickly and I loved it.”

The bagpipes Jim plays were given to him by his parents as a schoolboy and have survived a flood.

He would love to see more young people learn the instrument and says the band is keen to connect with local schools to offer lessons.

“Looking back, that’s how I started... in a school group ... you were among friends at school,” he says.

The Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band has about 20 members, a mix of pipers, drummers and learners.

“The more, the merrier. We’d love to have some more,” Jim says.

Free tuition is available for all who join the band.

To find out more, visit the Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band Facebook page.

EVENT DETAILS

What: Redcliffe Scottish Pipe Band Ceilidh. A light supper, tea and coffee will be provided. The bar will be open and there will also be shortbread and tablet for sale.

When: October 11, 6-10pm.

Tickets: $30 each. Bookings are essential. Email [email protected] or phone 0488 755 505.