Manor Cunningham drum corps prepare for their performance in Grade 3A at the European Championships, Stormont, 2011.
to save me money on my most used numbers. The girl said to me, ‘We have a number here which must be your partner, as you have just sent 102 texts in two days’ — but it turned out to be Gordon’s number — he was torturing me about ensemble!” Alan started out in another local band,
Convoy Pipe Band in 1991 aged seven. He began learning the pipes, but as he was left- handed playing with left hand on top, he was moved to the drums under the tuition of Al- lyn Vance. He was there for eight years till he went to Cumber Claudy which brought him into contact with Gordon again, and leading drummer Willie Wray. “Willie was a very talented leading drummer and was very good at teaching kids. He was always able to get good results, making even the least talented people believe they were winners. He won eight world titles for drumming and is a legend in our area. My biggest achievement at that time was winning the Grade 3A World Championships in 2000 with Cumber Claudy,” said Alan.
“I joined Manor Cunningham knowing they
were a good band with good drummers, but with Gary living in the Isle of Man perhaps they
Drum Sergeant Alan Laird
‘I didn’t think I could possibly find anyone to match the hunger I had for pipe bands, certainly not in my area, but I found Gordon living five minutes away’
were not as practised as they should have been for the grade. I’m not saying I was any better, but it meant that someone was there working with them more often. “The one thing I noticed since I joined the band was Gordon’s drive — it was the same as my own. I didn’t think I could possibly find any-
one to match the hunger I had for pipe bands, certainly not in my area, but I found Gordon living five minutes away. We just clicked, and anything that he suggested musically was almost what I suggested. However, Gordon always gets his way and his pipe band playing style is a bit more open than my own. Once I changed
PIPING TODAY • 39
Photo: John Slavin@Designfolk Ltd
BAND PROFILE
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