About Alex the Piper

Although I was born in Manchester, I moved to the Highlands of Scotland when I was 5 and started learning to play the bagpipes at the age of 8. As I progressed through school I was lucky enough to be taught by some great players, including Norman Gillies, whose son has won the world championships several times, and John D. Burgess, one of the great pipers of the 20th Century.

I became heavily involved in the local piping scene – I used to play with the Ullapool and District Junior Pipe Band, and competed regularly both in local and national competitions – winning gold at the National Mod was a highlight!

At the age of 15, I gained a new tutor, Carol-Anne Faquhar, and became heavily involved in Fèis Rois, an organisation dedicated to promoting traditional music in the Highlands. I started to play with all sorts of excellent musicians, which really opened my eyes to the different styles of music in Scotland. I started to play the small pipes, border pipes and whistles, and began to develop my own style of playing.

At the age of 17 I became one of the founder members of the National Youth Pipe Band and was lucky enough to be able to play some incredible gigs with them, including playing to over 50,000 people in Spain with Carlos Núñez and the Chieftains.

Once I finished school I moved to Edinburgh to study physics at Edinburgh University. At university I have the opportunity to appear on several T.V shows for BBC Scotland, and have since appeared on national TV in the UK, Ireland, Romania and Spain, as well as being recorded for several albums. While in Edinburgh I became nvolved in several other musical projects. I founded Òr Ceilidh Band  and we have since played throughout Scotland, and as far afield as Germany, Qatar, South Korea and Beijing. I also perform with the band Awry, playing festivals throughout Scotland

I now live in Perth, and still play regularly with my bands, as well as playing with the Dab Hand Ceilidh Band.