A Piper's Tale: Stories from the World's Top Pipers

From Jack Lee to Finlay MacDonald, Terry Tully to the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the major stars of this musical world tell their tales

Gather round the fire, grab a dram and join the world's top bagpipe players—they have quite a few stories to tell. Their stories are hilarious, revealing, and often moving as they speak about a musical and cultural passion that has consumed their lives. Why did the NYPD leave a crime scene to speak to Willie McCallum? Did Gordon Walker really sleep with the Crown Jewels? Is there a secret dram for a better performance? What's it like for traditional musicians to be treated like rock stars? With a foreword by renowned Scottish musician Eddi Reader and the world-acclaimed Carlos Nuñez, this is a wild and wonderful tour of Scotland’s traditional music—funny, deeply personal, heartfelt and essential to musicians and music lovers alike.

Fergus Muirhead is a broadcaster and author who can be seen regularly on BBC Scotland. He has played the bagpipes all over the world and has recorded with Scottish folk bands Molindinar and Ceolbeg as well as with the Chieftains and Carlos Nunez. Fergus has been involved in every Piping Live Festival since it began and is a regular at the popular William Kennedy Piping Festival. Eddi Reader is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Carlos Nuñez is a Galician musician who plays the traditional Galician bagpipe. He appeared on the Chieftans' Grammy-winning Santiago and has collaborated with such musicians as Ry Cooder, Sinéad O'Connor, and Altan.