James started playing the bagpipes at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh over 15 years ago where he received tuition from some of the best pipers in Scotland. When James went to university he entertained his fellow classmates with his musicianship, then played with Edinburgh’s Stockbridge Pipe Band during the holidays.
After university, he moved to London, where he played as a front rank player with the top pipe band in London and received tuition from a number of top players based in Canada. Now based in Cardiff where he is studying for a PhD, his competitive bagpiping career is on hold for the time being, but he finds time to play at a wide variety of events all over the UK and further afield, and maintain a high standard of playing.
Based in Cardiff City, Cardiff
= areas covered (up to 500 miles)
= free travel (up to 30 miles)
-- Traditional and popular tunes --
Scotland the Brave
Highland Cathedral
Amazing Grace
Flower of Scotland
Auld Lang Syne
-- Slow airs and memorial songs --
Auld Lang Syne
Hector the Hero
Air in B Minor
The Old Churchyard
The Music Man
The Water is Wide
Hector the Hero
Setting a Course for Lewis / Togail Curs Air Leodhas
Time to Say Goodbye
You Raise Me Up
Last of the Mohicans
Going Home
The Music Man
Old 100th
All People that on Earth do Dwell
Calon Lan
Flowers of the Forest
I Will Return Home to Kintail
Erin’s Green Shore
-- Marches --
Braes of Castle Grant
Dr Angus Macdonald
Bruce Gandy's Farewell to the Iron Horse
Highland Wedding
Donald Maclennan of Rothesay
John Macdonald of Glencoe
Rowan Tree
Flett from Flotta
Wee Michael's March
The Young MacGregor
When the Battle's Over
Dawning of the Day
The Rowan Tree
The Black Bear
The Glenfinnan Highland Gathering
The Young MacGregor
Fields of Flanders
Shoals of Herring
Castle Dangerous
Minstrel Boy
Black Bear
The Heights of Dargai
Battle of the Somme
The Festival March
79ths Farewell to Gibraltar
Edinburgh City Police Pipers
The Green Hills of Tyroll
Highland Laddie
Lochanside
The Minstrel Boy
Grannie Betty's
Landscapes
Meeting of the Waters
-- Hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels --
Tam Bain's Lum
Cosmos Cascade
Inveraray Castle
Edwyn's Didji Place
Jimmy's Gift
The High Drive (Jig)
The High Drive (Reel)
Wee Gordon's Brig o'Doon Phrase
Rhonda Blair
Jig of Slurs
Dora Macleod
The Smith of Chilliechassie
John Morrison of Assynt House
Mrs MacPherson of Inveran
The Fiddler's Rally
The Soup Dragon
The Dirty Lough
The Pitlochry High School Centenary
Glasgow City Police Pipers
Lord McConnell
The Emancipation Break
Up to the Line
-- National anthems and celebratory songs --
Flower of Scotland
Bread of Heaven
Ireland's Call
Land of My Fathers
God Save the Queen
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau
Calon Lan
-- Modern Songs --
500 miles
Road to the Isles
Flower of Scotland
Here Comes the Sun
Wake Me Up
Star Wars Theme
Happy Birthday
Clocks
-- Raising a Toast --
Wedding toast
Birthday toast
Introduction to Robbie Burns' Life
--Burns poems--
Address to a Haggis
Selkirk Grace
Tae a mouse
I can be very flexible with the space - amplification is very rarely required, and the pipes work well both indoors and outdoors.
Very happy to share some playlists of Scottish folk music
Piping for the First Minister of Scotland at Edinburgh Castle
Playing for the opening sequence of a concert at the KKL Concert Hall in Lucerne, Switzerland
Playing at Annabelle’s Club in Mayfair and the Hotel Cafe Royal on New Year
Playing inside the Millenium Stadium during Wales - Scotland rugby matches
I've been playing at an ever-increasing number of events since moving down south 10 years ago, having previously been a member of a number of competitive pipe bands that performed a lot in public.
It's always special to play at important personal events - it's a real privilige to be asked to be part of some of the biggest days of people's lives. Then Burns week around the 25th of January, is always a fun one - the aim is to get to as many events as possible over the week!
It takes about 15 minutes to set up, but ideally I'd have an hour and get a chance to see the venue a bit in advance. I can play for up to an hour without a break, but can do up to about 2 hours in total throughout the day - although that's more than enough bagpipes for anyone!
Yes, in any conditions your guests will put up with I will too!
More than happy to take special requests, if a bagpipe version of it exists it means it's possible to adapt it to the available notes and I can learn things quickly.
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