Jim Kilpatrick | |
---|---|
Born | Whitburn, West Lothian | 11 August 1956
Instrument | Snare drum |
Website | www |
Jim Kilpatrick MBE (born 11 August 1956) is a Scottish pipe band drummer, and leading drummer of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band. He has won numerous drumming titles as both a solo drummer and in pipe band competitions, enjoying his greatest competitive success with the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.
Kilpatrick was born in Whitburn, West Lothian on 11 August 1956, and started playing the snare drum at the age of 9 or 10. [1] [2]
His partner Fiona Cruickshank was pipe major of the Deeside Ladies Pipe Band. [3] [4] His uncle Tom Brown is also a pipe band drummer, and was leading drummer of Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band until he was succeeded by his son Gordon, who is Kilpatrick's cousin. [2] [5]
At the age of 12 he joined his first band, in Grade 1. [6] In 1971, at the age of 15, he joined the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band, which was at the time under the leadership of Alex Duthart. [1] He left to become leading drummer of Polkemmet Pipe Band in 1980, along with Robert Mathieson who also came from Shotts at the same time to become pipe major. [7] Kilpatrick became leading drummer of Shotts in 1986. [8]
He has won the drumming title at the World Pipe Band Championships nineteen times, fifteen of those as leading drummer. [9] This includes a run of eleven consecutive times between 1988 and 1998, a record which still stands. [9] In 1991, Shotts won the drumming title in all five major championships, the only time this has occurred. [9]
Kilpatrick was suspended in 2012 for comments made on Facebook about the result the band received at the British Championships. [10] This led to the resignation of pipe major Gavin Walker and the band withdrawing from all competition for the rest of the season, including the World Championships. [11]
In 2015, Shotts won the World Championships for the first time in ten years, breaking a run of four consecutive victories by Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band. [12] In October 2015, a statement released by Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band reported that Kilpatrick had agreed to step down and retire from his position as leading drummer, and that corps member Blair Brown would be his replacement. [13] The statement offered from the band did not include any quotations directly attributed to Kilpatrick. In his own statement, released on 17 October 2015, Kilpatrick stated that his removal from the band was "the final act in a long-running, premeditated and well-planned coup d’état orchestrated by Ryan Canning, Blair Brown, Glenn Brown and perhaps three other members of the Shotts band." [14]
In 2016, Kilpatrick became leading drummer of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band, which was reformed to compete for the 2016 season. [15] He has stated that this will be his final season of competition. [16]
Kilpatrick also competes in solo events, and has won the World Solo Drumming Championships a record sixteen times. [8] [9] He has been involved in teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, as well as giving masterclasses around the world. [1]
The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a competitive grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland named in honour of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships 13 times, making it the third most successful competing pipe band in history behind the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band and the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.
Glasgow Police Pipe Band was a grade one pipe band from Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1883 as the Burgh of Govan Police Pipe Band, the band enjoyed its greatest competitive success as the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. It ceased competing as Glasgow Police Pipe Band in 2021.
The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is a grade 1 pipe band from Shotts, in the North Lanarkshire region of Scotland. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships sixteen times. The current pipe major is Emmett Conway.
The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band affiliated with Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is led by pipe major Alan Bevan and leading drummer J. Reid Maxwell.
Shotts is a small town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The town has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertram de Shotts, though toponymists give the Anglo-Saxon scēots as the real source of the name. Shotts is the home of the world famous Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band, 16-time winners of World Pipe Band Championships.
Alex Duthart was a Scottish drummer. He is widely regarded as having revolutionised pipe band snare drum playing.
The Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band is a pipe band from West Lothian, Scotland which formed in 1972. The band has competed in Grade 1 since being promoted to that level in 1980.
The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The ScottishPower Pipe Band is a Grade 1 pipe band sponsored by the energy company ScottishPower. The band held a sponsorship deal with British Caledonian Airways from 1969 to 1989.
The Police Scotland Fife Pipe Band is a Grade 1 pipe band from Fife in Scotland, established in September 2007.
Margaret Houlihan is an Irish bagpiper, originally from Cullen, County Cork, now living in Scotland.
The Antwerp & District Pipe Band is Belgium's leading pipe band, it's also the first ever grade two band in Belgium which it became after becoming second at the British Championships in Annan.
Muirhead and Sons Pipe Band was a pipe band based in Grangemouth, Scotland. The band was highly successful, winning the World Pipe Band Championships a total of eight times. This total has been surpassed only by Strathclyde Police, Shotts and Dykehead, and Field Marshal Montgomery pipe bands who held the title twenty-one, fifteen, and thirteen times respectively, and equalled by the Clan MacRae Society Pipe Band which also won eight times.
The City of Victoria Pipe Band was a grade 1 pipe band based in Victoria, British Columbia.
Steven McWhirter is a pipe band drummer from Northern Ireland. He has won multiple World Championship titles as a solo performer and as part of band. He is the lead drummer for the Inveraray & District Pipe Band.
Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band was a pipe band associated with the Invergordon Distillery. The band was characterised by the extremely high calibre of the individual players.
Red Hackle Pipe & Drums, sometimes known as the Hackle, was a grade 1 pipe band based in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band is a pipe band formed from top-class solo players.
The Worcester Kiltie Pipe Band is a Grade 2 pipe band from Worcester, Massachusetts. It is led by pipe major David Methven and lead drummer Colum Lundt. They compete in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other nations. Worcester Kiltie wears the Modern Scott tartan. They were the first band from the United States to rise to prominence in Grade 1, and in 1964 became the first US band to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships.
Gail Brown is a Canadian musician who was the first female bagpipe player to play in the World Pipe Band Championships. She is also the first female bagpiper to win the highest level competition in the World Pipe Band Championships in 1973, with the Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.