Northumbrian Pipers.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: 8_Pints
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:30 PM

Hi 'old hand',

If you had been able to attend the first Blaydon Folk Festival week-end before last you would have been tripping up over many pipers including:

* Alistair Anderson
* Pauline Cato with Tom McConville
* Barry & Julia Say
* Dave Shaw
* John Routledge

together with many younger players providing the music for their rapper sides.

You would have had no fears about the succession of talent for the NSP!

Hope to see you there next year...

Bob vG

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: GUEST,Dave (Bridge)
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:14 PM

The Ranters are alive and well and will be at The Bridge Folk Club, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on September 18th

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Little Robyn
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 03:22 PM

There are several teenagers, about the same age as Alice, here in NZ too!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: shepherdlass
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 03:10 PM

And then there are the up and coming kidz - like Jessica Lamb and Alice Burn, who'll be lucky to have notched up 25 years between them!

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 12:10 PM

Gary someone plays at the Eel's Foot pub, Eastbridge, Suffolk, some Thursday nights, and very good he sounds (to a non-piper like me)

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: GUEST,Julia in Northumberland
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 11:27 AM

Joe Hutton unfortunately died in 1995 - a fine piper and a lovely bloke (he was amongst my first teachers), but I believe the original enquirer was hoping to hear live pipers in sessions or at festivals.

Old Hand, try Rothbury festival (14-16 July this year) for a fair concentration of good and average pipers including some of those mentioned. Competitions, sessions, concerts, ceilidh. Googling for Rothbury Traditional Music Festival should lead you to this year's details

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Fiolar
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 09:07 AM

Don't forget Joe Hutton who was born near Haltwhistle and won many Northumbrian piping competitions.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: GUEST,old hand
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 05:51 AM

Thankyou for all this information. I have just got back to the 'old' country and intend to visit a few of these clubs . glad to hear the Ranters are still performing. At my age it can be hard to get about but, it would be worth it to hear some good piping again.
Thanks
         OH (old hand)

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: GUEST,Julia in Northumberland
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 04:31 AM

www.nspipes.co.uk/hlr

explains what the Ranters are up to , though they're sometimes known as the High Level Pensioners now.

www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk

is the Northumbrian Pipers Society site. We have around 800 members worldwide, and I guess there's that many again playing the nsp today

The group Robyn mentioned, JCB, isn't functioning at present.

The lone piper on the degree course is Paul Knox, who is well on the way to becoming a fine traditional piper. In addition to those mentioned in previous posts, there's Andy May who plays as a Bad Penny with Jez Lowe amongst other things; Andy & Margaret Watchorn, a traditional pipes and fiddle duo; Andrew Davison, a fine piper in the Jack Armstrong style who is fortunate to play a beautiful historical set of pipes (By James Reid).

To mention just a few.

Hope this helps

Julia (currently NPS sec)

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Folkiedave
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 04:13 AM

Or vice versa

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 03:32 AM

I could have sworn that the Ranters were doing Status Quo covers at Whitby a couple of years ago.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 03:05 AM

There is a Northumbrian pipe session every tuesday night in The Woolpack in Beverley.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Folkiedave
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 02:26 AM

http://www.daveshaw.co.uk/
is both a pipemaker and a brilliant player. He also has a fund of knowledge about pipes and makers.

Newcastleton Festival http://www.newcastleton.com/
has a series of different competition for pipers.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 01:53 AM

Actually, this was on Channel 5.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 07:36 PM

During the recent BBC4 folk season there was a wonderful documentary about Katherine Tickell, what she does now and the old guys who she learned from and how it was all based in the Northumbrian countryside. It was brilliant, especially when you saw her teaching kids tunes

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Tootler
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 07:02 PM

When Folkworks offered beginners Northumbrian Pipes for their Caedmon classes at the Sage last September, they had enough takers to split the class into two groups.

There is at least one Northumbrian Piper in the current cohort on the Folk Music degree at Newcastle.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Little Robyn
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:40 PM

There are more pipe makers today than at any other time in history and consequently, there are more NS pipers playing than ever before.
Now they're spread all over the world but there's also a strong core of pipers still in Geordie land.
Colin still plays in the Ranters but he also belongs to a group called JCB - Julia, Colin and Barry, and all three are very involved in the NSP Society.
If you're in the north, visit the bagpipe museum at Morpeth and you'll find many contacts, books and recordings. And you can find out about sessions and concerts in your area as well.
Robyn
NZNPS

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:14 PM

The High Level Ranters are indeed still performing as indeed are Alistair Anderson, Pauline Cato and Kathryn Tickell everywhere. There are many young up-and-coming pipers though the current preference seems to be for border or southern Scottish smallpipes. Don't try and tell me Vikki Swann or Michael Beeke (to name but two) don't have distinctive styles of their own. Then there's Chris Walshaw, an outstanding player of many kinds of French and English bagpipes and Jon Swayne who blows all kinds of things, with and without bags. I recommend OH to get out more and realise that there is indeed a continuing tradition.

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:10 PM

Ali Anderson teaches on the Newcastle degree course, doesn't he?

Kitty

Subject: RE: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: John Routledge
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:37 PM

The High Level Ranters now comprise Colin Ross Johnny Handle and Jim Hall (on nsp).They are still performing and don't need a tribute band. :0)

Subject: Northumbrian Pipers.
From: GUEST,old hand
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:06 PM

Where do Northumbrian Pipers go ? Do they die or just retire and 'Fester' in some old forgotten session some where?
I remember listening to the likes of Colin Ross years ago in sessions. I followed the High Level Ranters about like some folk did the Beatles (sad or what) Now-a-days we don't get 'Tribute Bands' for the likes of 'The High Level Ranters'not because the talent isn't there but because every person today wants to be an individual and a super hero in the music world.I wish we could revive the old ways, even for a week of nostalga. Say a festival of concerts of some of the 'old bands' of the last twenty, thirty plus years ago. That would show these young wizz kids that the old musicians had to serve their apprenticeship before they became 'older' wizz kids, not like today where these kids pick up a few CD's and copy the masters (no style of their own) and think the have it made! OH (old Hand)