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Heritage Pipes & Drums

About Me

Welcome to Heritage Pipes & Drums official home on MySpace! Please visit our website at hpd-pipeband.org .
Heritage Pipes & Drums of Birmingham, Alabama is Birmingham's premier parade and performance bagpipe band. HPD is led by award-winning soloist and the state's only fully professional ceremonial bagpiper Pipe Major Ryan Morrison. Ryan is a competing member of the Bushmills San Francisco Irish Pipers Pipe Band Grade 3 competition band and the Duncan McCall Pipe Band of Pensacola, Florida Grade 4 competition band. In 2009, Ryan will be the first native-Alabamian to attend the All Ireland Championships in the Republic of Ireland.
Under the direction of Pipe Major Ryan Morrison, Heritage Pipes & Drums is the state's premier teaching institution for Scottish piping and drumming. We gratefully employ the assistance and tutelage of Pipe Major Steve Bicknell of Pensacola, Florida's Duncan McCall Pipe Band as well as the talents of Drum Seargent Michael Paige to help train and prepare our band for competitions. Heritage Pipes & Drums has enjoyed success at pipe band competitions in Kentucky and Tennessee in 2006, placing 2nd and 3rd in their division. In 2008, Heritage Pipes & Drums will be joining forces with the Duncan McCall Pipe Band to form Grade 4 and a Grade 5 competition bands to attend the Stone Mountain Highland Games in October. In 2009, the new amalgamation will attend competitions throughout the southeast, from the Carolinas to Kentucky.
Heritage Pipes & Drums has a rich and long history and is the oldest band in Northern Alabama. The band was founded more than thirty years ago by the late Pipe Major Emeritus Ian Sturrock, the very first piper in the state of Alabama, whose pipes still play in this band. Under its previous incarnation the Ben Dearg Pipe Band, then Governor George Wallace actually named the band the Official State Pipe Band of Alabama. HPD is a cultural unit organized as a part of Trinity Presbyterian Church (formerly Reformed Heritage Presbyterian Church) and Heritage Academy of Birmingham, Alabama.
HPD is proudly sponsored by two of the largest Scottish-enthusiast organizations in Alabama, The St. Andrews Society of the Middle South and the Caledonian Society of Alabama.

St Patrick's Day Parade 2007, Birmingham, AL.
Video by Brian Bowman.

Birmingham Green 2006, Birmingham, AL, with music by HPD.
Video by Randy Archer.

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Member Since: 10/06/2005
Band Website: hpd-pipeband.org
Band Members: PIPE SECTION
Pipe Major Ryan Morrison
Assistant Pipe Major Kathleen Ryan
Pipe Sergeant Thomas Caucutt
Pipe Corporal Brian Bowman
Cacey Barnes
John Kelley
Sean Muratet
Romano Spinelli
Randy Swofford

DRUM SECTION
Andrew Collins
Sherry Morrison
Peter Pitts
Graham Smith
Michael Whitten
Denise Wiginton

NOW RECRUITING DRUMMERS!!!
View BLOG for more info!

INSTRUCTORS
Pipe Major Ryan Morrison
Drum Sergeant Michael Paige
ALUMNI
Pipe Major Emeritus Charles Smith, Pipe Sergeant Emeritus John Douglas, Drum Sergeant Emeritus Tyler Young, Wendy Clayton, Gilbert Douglas IV, Wesley Douglas, Kelly Kilpatrick & Mark Sutherland

IN MEMORIUM
Dr. Gilbert Douglas, Jr.
(1916 - 2002)
Dr. John Richardson
(1945 - 2000)
Pipe Major Emeritus Ian Sturrock
(1921 - 1995)

Influences: The Late Pipe Major Emeritus Ian Sturrock, Pipe Major Emeritus Charles Smith, Pipe Major Mike LeBoeuf , Our Mentor Band Bushmills San Francisco Irish Pipers Pipe Band , St. Lawrence O'Toole Pipe Band , Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band, City of Chicago Pipe Band
Sounds Like: See us on YouTube.com!
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

HPD to parade and perform at the Papajohns.com Bowl Street Festival Friday, Dec. 21, 2007!

Papajohns.com Bowl taps community organizations for Street FestivalEvent will welcome visitors and energize city about second annual bowl gamehttp://www.papajohnsbowl.com/press_release/07_street_fes t...
Posted by on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:59:00 GMT

Birmingham News Article: HPD in production of MACBETH

Fall showcase features seven scenes from Shakespeare's playsby Alec HarveyBirmingham NewsSunday, November 04, 2007Full ArticleElizabeth Hunter is having a good time.You can hear it in her voice as she...
Posted by on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:05:00 GMT

PRESS RELEASE: HPD featured in Shakespeare at Sloss production of MacBeth May 2008

For more information, contact: Zackery Moore 205.401.5379 [email protected] www.shakespeareatsloss.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 25, 2007 Local Bagpipe Troupe Invades Sloss Furnaces MUSE OF...
Posted by on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:34:00 GMT

Music now available for download!

Per the kind requests of the many friends of HPD, we have made our songs available for download and for adding to your personal profile! We hope you enjoy them. We will have more new audio available i...
Posted by on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:04:00 GMT

NOW RECRUITING SIDE DRUMMERS!!!

NOW RECRUITING!!!!! Gearing up for regional contests in 2007 and 2008 with a new competition corps, Heritage Pipes & Drums is currently recruiting any and all interested side drummers for competit...
Posted by on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:50:00 GMT

BHAM GREEN 07! St. Patrick's Day Parade Galleries

Here are some photo albums from friends of HPD of the band marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Birmingham, Alabama. This was a GREAT year for the band, marching with a record nine pipers!!! BH...
Posted by on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:08:00 GMT

HPD partners with Grade 3 Pipe Band!

Under the leadership of Pipe Major Ryan Morrison, Heritage Pipes & Drums has officially entered into a mentoring partnership with the Bushmills San Francisco Irish Pipers Pipe Band! This is a majo...
Posted by on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:50:00 GMT

HPD at City Stages 2006!!!!

Our City Stages performance went very well this past weekend. This year, we decided to parade up 20th Street to the entrance of the church in the interest of getting a little more exposure. It seems t...
Posted by on Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:51:00 GMT

City Stages 2005 Write-up in Bham Weekly

Many thanks to the Birmingham Weekly for the wonderful write-up in the City Stages 2005 Official Guide. Thanks to everyone who came out to support their local pipe band!!! Please visit hpd-pipeband...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Jun 2005 09:28:00 GMT

Welcome friends of HPD!!!

Hello and welcome to Heritage Pipes & Drums home on MySpace.com! My name is Ryan Morrison and I am the Pipe Major and Director of HPD, as well as the moderator of this MySpace Music profile. Pleas...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Jun 2005 09:21:00 GMT