Oddly enough, with as little formal education in pipes as he has had, he probably will be welcomed with open arms. There also is the Tidewater Pipes and Drums, based in Norfolk, which performed a few weeks ago at the British and Irish Festival at Town Point Park.įalzone says he would eventually like to join the Strath James Band. Meanwhile on that part of Earth known as Tidewater Virginia, opportunities for bagpipers are somewhat limited.Ĭlose, who has been a student and player since 1969, is pipemaster of a currently eight-member group based in the Williamsburg area called the Strath James Band Strath means river in Scottish. 'You can be in nature and fill the skies with music.' 'I love that bagpipes are portable,' says Geddes, who also plays piano. Geddes now practices in empty fields, in cemeteries - anywhere she can blow without worrying about offending anyone's aural sensibilities. Twenty-four households sent back notes disclaiming anything to do with the complaint. Officers would not tell her who the complainant was, so she sent out notes to 36 houses, apologizing for creating a nuisance. They said they had a complaint from one of the neighbors about my playing.' She remembers, 'I was in my driveway after I had put my pipes away, and up to the house drove the James City County Police. That's a better reception than what she has gotten from some of her neighbors in the Season's Trace community. 'They walk up to you and chew the grass.'

'The cattle love it!' says Geddes, who took Close's class a few years ago and has continued to study under his private tutelage.

Or they may do what Nancy Geddes of Williamsburg does: find a pasture someplace and play for the cows. They may join one of two Hampton Roads area pipe bands.

So what will Falzone and the others do once they've moved from practice chanter to bagpipes and pursued the mastery of them? But when was the last time you heard people at a party ask if anyone knew 'Scotland the Brave'? Moreover, a piano player, guitar picker and a trumpeter can sometimes count on being asked to entertain at a social gathering.

Scotland the brave practice chanter