And Now... For Something Completely Different

Everybody who likes school drumlines, raise your hand... well, mine went up, did yours? Perhaps it's because I was in the Disston Jr High Marching Band and Orchestra in St. Petersburg, FL, as a teenager, but I have always enjoyed a good drum cadence - or "street beat" as we called it back then. I wasn't a drummer, which is a good thing, since I undoubtedly lack the hand coordination and pure, unfailing sense of rhythm necessary to play a percussion instrument. In the mid-1950s South, there were still racially segregated schools, and as good as our school drumline was, the all-black 16th Street Jr High was far better. When they would begin to warmup at a parade staging area, all the white kids would be tapping their feet. 16th Street Jr High put on a magnificent "show"! Here's a "little something" for those of you who do enjoy a good drumline (if you think enjoying a drumline is a bit weird, check out the one below)...

I think I must have been a Scotsman in a previous life. There's something about the skirling of the (bag)pipes and the cadence of the (generally accompanying) drums that stirs my soul. I know... most Americans find the sound produced by the bagpipes to be something less than musical, but to me "the pipes" are felt as much as heard - it's a visceral experience. I was fortunate enough to see, live and in concert at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT, the premier pipe band in the world - the Black Watch (3rd Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment of Scotland) twice, 11 years apart. So this one is primarily for those of my friends and family of Scottish descent, but the rest of you may find that, when done well, the pipes may also move you...

Okay... one more for the Scots! If there was ever a man to play the lead in the movie "Rob Roy", it would be the first piper shown (and a couple of more times) in the following video - "Mull of Kintyre". If he's not the stereotypical highlander, nobody is...

I hope you enjoyed watching these videos as much as I enjoyed bringing them together for you!