On pipers and politics, part II

I recently made a post about pipe band politics in response to a thread that had been posted in a bagpipe forum. The person who started the thread listed his or her grievances against the current head of a band and how he has been attempting to manipulate and control the band.

After some discussions with several people I believe that I should make some clarifications regarding my statements.

First, the tone of my previous post implies that I am sympathetic to the person who started the discussion thread, thought it was not explicitly stated (though perhaps I was when I wrote the post). As I’ve thought about it the past few days, however, I am revising my stance to “neutral.”

I call myself a skeptic, which means I reserve judgment on certain topics until I have heard evidence from both sides of a debate. I don’t suggest that the events described accusations made in the thread were intentionally fallacious, but they do represent only one point of view, and are an emotional response from one individual. In other words, it is just hearsay with nothing to support the claims made.

My post was intended to be about politics in the piping world in general, but it was swayed by the situation at hand because I had recently read about it.

I would like to add the following comment about piping politics in general, and finish with the same comments that closed my previous post:

I think it’s extremely sad that politics has crept into the piping world. It’s inevitable, I suppose, that some people think they know better than the people who actually do know better, and therefore they see it as their right to call the shots. This isn’t limited to piping, of course, but it is certainly widespread. I know of several bands that have dissolved because of egos and control issues, and several gifted musicians who have turned their back on the piping community because of the petty politics among its members. Friendships have been destroyed, people have become jaded, and people have come to hate the piping world because of the people involved in it.

My first experience with a competition band was ideal: no egos in the band, no cliques, no power struggles. Just music and friendship. Everyone in the band got along and enjoyed the company of the others, and we enjoyed playing music together and hanging out together. We were serious about playing good music, but at the same time realized that is was supposed to be fun. The three years I played with Macdonald Pipe Band in Pittsburgh were a lot of fun, and it provided the catalyst for  my solo competition career, as well as my interest in pipes turning into an obsession. Some of my best friends were made in that band, and I miss them quite a bit.

Every pipe band I associate with in the future will be compared to my time with Macdonald, and I’m afraid nothing will be as good. Part of that I’m sure is that it was my first experience and I had nothing else to compare it to, but it was also a lot of fun.