The Story of "Bagpiper Bill" and his Bagpipes

Halò, 

As a wee lad, I started playing bagpipes on the Isle of Skye when I was 7 years old near Dunvegan Castle in Scotland.

I received my advanced piping instruction from the "Great Ones!"- Donald Shaw Ramsey & John D. Burgess/Willie Ross - Revolutionary bagpipe musicians who brought "Rock & Roll" music into piping in the early and mid-20th Century. 

I was born into a Scottish Family of musicians. My piping career accelerated at 13 in San Francisco, California, under the Prince Charles Pipe Band's piping instructor, J. William Merriman. 

In America, I was fortunate and honored to be taught by a World Champion Piper - Ian Whitelaw - a pure traditionalist and a lover of wolves and kindred spirits.  He regularly emphasized the necessity to continually hone one's technical skills to evoke the true elegance of the highland instrument. 

During my college years, I competed professionally in what is now called - "Open;" and in 1983, I performed for the Queen of England at a state visit in Seattle, Washington, at the Westin Hotel. Over the next several years, I piped for a candidate running for President of the United States, let alone many other domestic and foreign dignitaries and celebrities. 

Over the years, I've been honored to perform and compete as a corp piper with several premier Grade-1 Pipe Bands at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.  I've won many international solo piping competitions and was a member of pipe bands that won several major pipe band competitions. But what I truly love is winning the hearts of my audiences.

I play genuine Silver and Ivory "Henderson Bagpipes" made in 1913. 

With over 45 years of bagpiping experience, I guarantee a beautiful-sounding instrument and the best musicianship on the planet. 

Sláinte, 

"BagPiper Bill"

Máel Coluim IX (MacMhurchaidh)