PROFILE
Photo: Heather Gibb Photography
challenge. My plan was to stay in the band and really consolidate our position in the grade but at that time I was teaching at a workshop with Robert Mathieson in Germany where he told me that he was considering retiring as pipe major of Shotts and Dykehead sometime soon. When I left Shotts in 2002, I promised Robert that I would return once I had gained more experience. So when Robert said ‘I would like you to come back’, I couldn’t really say no to him. I would have been angry with myself for the rest of my career if Robert had retired and I had not got the chance to play under him again. I went back to the Shotts band in 2010 and it goes down as one of the proudest moments of my career to say that I stood next to him in the front rank on the day of his final performance with Shotts,” said Craig. Once Robert left Shotts and Dykehead,
Craig found it more difficult to find the time to devote to the band. Shotts and Dykehead are a top band and in order for the band to perform to the best of their ability, the new pipe major was after the best of attendance at practices. “I could not commit to that and left the band,” explained Craig. “With my commitment to Wallace Bagpipes and my involvement in the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, it was impossible for me to attend two pipe band practices a week. I had no intention of playing with another band until I met some of the guys from St Laurence O’Toole over at the Metro Cup in New York.” When Craig explained his situation to them, it became apparent that he would not be ex- pected to attend two practices a week in Ireland and the opportunity might be there for him to join SLOT. He said: “I had various phone calls with Paul Brown, a drummer in the band, regarding the band’s attendance requirements and he suggested that I get in touch with Terry Tully. I did and his words were ‘OK let’s make it happen’, and it is a great situation for me. SLOT now have five pipers over here, myself, Gareth Rudolph, Lee Moore, Donald MacKenzie and Cameron Barnes. We mostly meet once a week at The National Piping Centre, and come January we go over to Dublin once a month for a full Saturday band practice until we get to the Scottish Championships in May. We all work hard over here, so even though there are times where some of us don’t make the weekly practice, we are still keeping our pipes and fin- gers going. I would say we blend in seamlessly when we go over to Ireland to play with the full band, but maybe Terry wouldn’t say the same!
PIPING TODAY • 22
He is probably harder on us than he is with the other guys who make two practices a week and he expects us to turn up and be on the ball. If our pipes aren’t going well then we don’t stand a chance of playing on the day due to the high level of players within the band. “I’ve never been part of a band that has
such a ‘family’ feel to it where every member takes you in as their own when we are over for practice. Put that together with the fact they are one of the best bands in the world and I can see me staying with St Laurence O’Toole for a very long time.” Craig’s connection to the Red Hot Chilli
Pipers came about through his friendship with Stuart Cassells. The band now have a worldwide profile and to allow them to meet the demand to perform, they have a roster of six pipers even
though only three pipers ever play at one gig. “The best gig I have played with the Chilli Pipers was at Piping Live! on the Friday night before the Worlds in 2011. The Fruitmarket was packed and it was great to do something for Piping Live! When the gig came in we were a bit concerned how the band would go down at a festival which is strictly for pipes, rather than the usual music festivals we play. The fact the Chilli Pipers drew such a big audience at Piping Live! shows we never had anything to worry about,” said Craig. He admits that one of the best experiences he has ever had is also due to Chilli Pipers and the addition of some Hollywood magic. They were invited to play the pipes in the new Disney-Pixar animation, Brave, which will be released this summer. Craig explained: “The
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