Gary is on his travels again, and brings you great music and chat from one of his 'homes from home', the Celtic Arts Foundation in Mount Vernon, in the Pacific North West of the USA. There's live sets from piping supremo, Zephan Knichel, and from the superb fiddle and piano duo of Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest, as well as gorgeous Gaelic songs from Stacey Giermann.  There's a National Piping Centre recording of Willie McCallum from 25 years ago, a set of tunes from some of Gary's fellow...

Join Gary for more top class music from the world of bagpipes, with tunes from Davy Spillane, Simon McKerrell, Bonnie Rideout & Allan MacDonald, Dr Angus MacDonald, Beolach, the Battlefield Band, Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia and a listener's corner spot from Jock Roarty.   Tracks Beolach with Annie’s New Heart from All Hands   Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band with Call to the Gathering  Simon McKerrell with Lucy Cassidy, Duncan Johnstone and The Madchester...

Join Gary as he brings you more great music from that family of instruments we call the bagpipe. At the more traditional end of things, there’s classic tunes from Murray Henderson and we take in the first world championship win from the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band in 1992.  Listen out too for a modern twist from Malin Lewis and from Sketch while Mairearad Green and Anna Massie get down and folky! And in a special tribute to the late Skye Richendrfer of the Celtic Arts Foundation on...

Join Gary as he brings you more great music from bagpipes great and small! There's a double helping from the Northumbrian tradition,  a flavour of the Himalayas, up tempo tunes from the wider trad scene, a song from Scottish folk royalty, and a short tribute to Dundee piping great, Harry Ellis, who sadly passed away this week. Tracks James Harper with Colorado Frontiersman, Bonnen Polka, and Eiggmare from Culzean  Billy Pigg with Archie’s Fancy and Holey Ha’Penny from Northumberland...

Gary brings you more high quality music of the bagpipe kind, with tunes from  Rura, The Finlay MacDonald Band, Iain MacFadyen, Fred Morrison and Canadian band, Iron Brew. There's a gorgeous version of the pibroch, Desperate Battle of the Birds on pipes and piano, courtesy of Roddy MacLeod and Craig Muirhead, a taster of a brand new piece for pipes and orchestra from Lorne MacDougall, and with Armistice Day just around the corner, a moving song version of the lament, Flooers o the Forest, from...

Following on from last week's Halloween shenanigans things are a bit more chilled in this episode - although maybe not quite as chilled as the title might suggest! There's fine music from Daimh, Cantrip, Angus and Kenneth MacKenzie, P/M Angus MacDonald, Matt MacIsaac and the Boghall and Bathgate Pipe Band, while Eilidh West, usually to be heard introducing each episode in the jingle, is in fine voice as she quietly sings you to sleep. Tracks Daimh with Puff Puff from Sula Cantrip with The...

Join Gary for a Halloween special, and hear about some of the deep rooted traditions associated with the festival and what lies behind them. And of course there is plenty of appropriate pipe music to lighten the mood, with sets from Lincoln Hilton, Steve Byrne, The Victoria Police Pipe Band, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, John MacLean, Troy MacGillivray and Hugh MacDiarmid's Haircut. There's a full rendition of Robert Burns' epic tale, Tam O'Shanter, and a seldom heard reply from his...

Delighted that EYP has been nominated in the Music in the Media category of the Scots Trad Music Awards for 2023. If you enjoy the podcast, you can vote here! https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TradAwards2023 Gary returns after a week’s break with more top-drawer music from the world of bagpipes. There’s a taster of two new albums, True North from uillean pipe maestro, Calum Stewart, and the latest excellent offering from the band, Rura, entitled Dusk Moon. From the solo highland piping...

Gary helps to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lowland and Border Pipers' Society by taking a look at the development, decline, and revival of the bellows bagpipe tradition in Scotland. With music from Gordon Mooney,  , Fred Morrison, Annie Grace & Judy Barker, Andy May and ... himself! Tracks Daimh with Jerry’s Pipe Jig, Slainte do Mhabou, Donella Beaton, Muinera de Casu from From Moidart to Mabou Annie Grace and Judy Barker with Alison Cross from Reclaimed (Presented by Lowland...

Join Gary for more music from the world of bagpipes, this week with two fine voices thrown in for good measure! These belong to Andy Hunter, who gives us his rendition of the song version of the Ewe wi the Crookit Horn in the company of the Dysart and Dundonald Pipe Band, and nobel laureate, Seumas Heaney, who reads his poem, The Given Note, accompanied by the great uillean piper, Liam O'Flynn. There's also sets from Donald MacPherson, Gordon Duncan, Ceolbeg, Assynt, the Scottish Gas...

Gary brings you tunes from Angus MacColl, Ann Gray,  Shotts and Dykehead, Hecla, Hamish Moore, the Vale of Atholl and a folk classic from Dick Gaughan. And there are musical visits to the Cobblestone Bar in Dublin and the Railway Tavern, Perth. Tracks Hecla with Angus Waltz Intro, Angus John MacNeil of Barra and Angus Sutherland from Hecla: Smallpipes, Fiddle and Gaelic Song Angus MacColl with The Highland Wedding and the Abercairney Highlanders from A Tradition of Excellence Dick Gaughan...

More great tunes and tales of all things bagpipes, including the story behind the house for sale in Dunkeld, Perthshire, which was built in the 18th century for the piper to the Duke of Atholl. He led quite an interesting life!  There's sets too from Llan de Cubel, John Patrick, Stuart Liddell, and Clan Alba, a song from Silly Wizard, pipe tunes on the moothie from Donald Black, and extracts from the marvellously powerful music suite, The Bruce 700, commissioned in 2014 by Stirling Council to...

Gary introduces more top drawer music of the bagpipe variety, with sets from Seanaidh MacIntyre and Ewen Henderson, Cantrip, Alasdair Gillies, Megan Henderson - and himself! And listen out for a new initiative - our first 'Listener's Slot' - a lovely smallpipes suite which comes from Rob Menzies of British Columbia. Tracks Cantrip with the Eavil Dr Gray, Mrs Dundas of Arnistoun, Marion’s Reel and MacDonald’s Reel from Boneshaker P/M Alasdair Gillies with Mrs John MacColl, Tulloch Castle...

It's piobaireachd all the way this week as Gary introduces music he recorded at the  Captain John A MacLellan MBE Piobaireachd Recital and Dinner held recently in Edinburgh. This annual event celebrates the piobaireachd compositions of the late Captain John, one of the few prolific composers of this music from the 20th century. With tunes from Iain Speirs, Finlay Johnstone, Nick Hudson and Willie McCallum. it's a bumper episode - enjoy! Tracks Iain Speirs with the Edinburgh Piobaireachd by...

Gary welcomes the brand new bellows-pipe quartet, inB, to perform the very first Bothy Session from the shores of the Firth of Forth.  Top uillean pipers Louise Mulcahy and Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn team up with Brighde Chaimbeul and Fin Moore on Scottish smallpipes to create a stunning blend of music from both sides of the Irish Sea. This is their very first recording project - a major scoop for EYP! And there's news and roundups from this year's Piping Live festival and the World Pipe Band...

Gary presents the podcast in front of a live audience in the Street Cafe at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow as part of the Piping Live Festival. With sets from Finlay MacDonald, John Mulhearn, Andy May, Estonians Catlin and Marko Magi, and the wonderful uillean pipes and Scottish smallpipes quartet, InB. Tracks Simon Fraser University Pipe Band with The Haunting, Drops of Brandy, Snug in a Blanket, Untimely Journey, Rocking the Baby from Live in America Live Sets on Stage John...

Gary looks ahead to a range of live events across the central belt of Scotland as we reach the sharp end of the piping season with Piping Live in Glasgow and the Fringe in Edinburgh. There's  new music from Mark Saul, and timeless tunes from Angus MacColl, Gordon Duncan, Gordon Mooney, and Polkemmet Grorud Pipe Band. And Westie's Wildcard returns with an imaginary trip to the Yukon in the company of the Lochee Bard himself, the late Michael Marra. Support the show Tracks Mark Saul with A'...

Join Gary from his unscheduled stopover in an airport hotel in Washington DC for the latest instalment of EYP! He had been teaching on the Cairdeas smallpipes course in Vermont, and you can tune in here to hear all about it. With session music, brand new albums and tunes from past instructors, plus plenty of chat - they don't half enjoy their piping in Vermont! Tracks Dan Houghton with Bochd Liath nan Gobhar, Lieutentant MacGuire, Freya’s Diplomacy (D Houghton) and The Old Woman’s Dance...

Gary reports back from his trip to Washington State in the North West of the USA where he helped to host the Skagit Valley Highland Games. There's music from Willie McCallum, Daimh, Tim Edey & Ross Ainslie, the Masters of Scottish Arts, as well as a quartet featuring Fin Moore, Brighde Chaimbeul, Ross Ainslie (again!) and Gary himself. And there's plenty chat and craic too, as he catches up with old friends and new. Sponsored by RG Hardie Bagpipes Tracks Tim Edey and Ross Ainslie with...

Join Gary for the latest instalment of his podcast which features an incredible piece of percussive blues harp playing from Mike Whellans in partnership with the smallpipes of Battlefield Band piper, Mike Katz. Sadly Mike Whellans passed away last week, so we play this in tribute to his 6 decades of contribution to the music scene in Scotland and beyond. There are tunes too from the St Lawrence O'Toole Pipe Band, from their pipe major Allen Tully in solo mode, and from the folk band Pipedown,...

Gary brings you more top drawer piping from across Scotland and well beyond, with news and the winning performance from the European Pipe Band Championships held recently in Aberdeen. He samples the brand new release from Daimh, takes you on some rambles to the sound of the uillean piping of John McSherry, while Jack Lee treats us to a fine set recorded live in Seattle. Meanwhile, Lorne MacDougall pops up to say Hello World. This week's centre piece is a marvellous performance of the Lament...

Gary visits the bagpipe makers RG Hardie in Glasgow and takes you on a tour of their workshops to see how the instruments we play and the uniforms we wear start their lives. And look out for an exciting announcement too! There's music from two bands who have won over twenty world titles between them - Muirhead and Sons, and Field Marshall Montgomery, as well as tunes from Fraser Fifield, the Ghillies and the Cape Breton pairing of Jamie MacInnis and Paul MacNeil. If you would like to become...

Gary brings you another eclectic mix of sounds and tunes, including the winning performance at the recent UK Pipe Band Championships from the  People's Ford Boghall and Bathgate. There's sets too from North American fiddle and border pipes duo, Ben Miller and Anita MacDonald, from stalwarts of the English folk scene, Blowzabella, top drawer pibroch playing from Bruce Gandy, a double header visit to Brittany in the company of the Unusual Suspects and the Bagad Brieg,  and exquisite highland...

Gary pays musical tribute to long-term friend and stalwart of the pipe band scene, Drum Major Alister 'Bo' Walker of both the Vale of Atholl and Atholl Highlanders pipe bands who sadly passed away this week after a long battle with illness. There are tunes too from the Simon Fraser University pipe band, from top uillean piping duo, Tiarnan O Duinnchinn and Cillian Vallely,  from Australian 'modern piping'  guru, Lincoln Hilton, and there's an upbeat cheery Fandango from Galician all-rounder,...

Gary brings you exclusive highlights from this year's main piping concert at Celtic Connections, held in the main auditorium of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Names and Places is a full length suite composed in the late 1980s by Martin Hughes and Ian Kirkpatrick of the band, Eclipse First, and was (we reckon) the first to be conceived specifically for the combination of pipe band and folk group. The piping and drumming on the original album was provided by members of the Vale of Atholl, some...