BAGPIPE PLAYER LOS ANGELES FULL
I choose these items as I find it difficult to stop eating them no matter how full I am.Īs an émigré, perhaps the one ‘poor man’s food’ that would be more in keeping with your question would be the ‘Tommy Burger’. And by cheese, I am talking more of the French, European ‘consumed-with-wine’ variety, rather than the rubberised North American form of my youth. MK: In short, curries and cheese – separately I might add. PT: A few of us at PT have a soft spot for square sausage on a roll at two in the morning – or a cheese toastie at any time of day. Mike took some time from his day to meet with Piping Today in his adopted Edinburgh hometown and talk about – what else – his real life. Mike’s Scottish smallpipes are made by Ian Kinnear. He has a bias for a lower pitched instrument (he plays in concert B flat) and switches between a set of vintage Peter Henderson drones and an old WW1 vintage set of R. He’s travelled and performed around the world, written and arranged great tunes and sets and been part of countless landmark recording projects. In 1997, he became a member of Battlefield Band, one of the best known folk groups on earth, and since then has never looked back.
BAGPIPE PLAYER LOS ANGELES PROFESSIONAL
In 1993, he joined one of Scotland’s most popular and respected folk bands, Ceolbeg, setting a path for life as a professional musician.
He says, “I did not have tuition as such, just constant criticism by my peers.” Mike found the whole experience hugely impactful to his professional development, learning “through osmosis”. Led by well known Pipe Major Gordon Campbell (ex-Vale of Atholl) the band were full of talent and expert players. It was a few years before he connected to pipe bands, his first being The Links of Forth Pipe band (not long after to change both name and sponsor to Scottish Gas). In 1987, bucking the centuries-long trend of Scots immigration to the New World, he emigrated to Scotland, settling in Edinburgh. Led by John Massie from Bellshill, Scotland, Mike’s membership allowed him to benefit from sound teaching and set his piping on a solid course. Soon after, both Mike and his brother joined the Los Angeles Police Pipe Band. Born in the Los Angeles region of the San Fernando Valley, he broke his piping teeth in his older brother Steve’s high school pipe band – along with a lot of inspiration listening to good old piping records. not cut from the cloth of the competitive piper, Mike Katz is one of the world’s most successful American-born pipers. It is known by musicians and lovers of traditional music worldwide and local musicians have been keeping traditional music alive here for over half a century.
Time was short so Mike suggested meeting at their final pre-Switzerland “rehearsal” in Sandy Bell’s, which is one of the great folk music pubs of Edinburgh. We caught up with Mike a few days before he was leaving for a music festival in Switzerland with Scottish fiddler John Martin.
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