CHARLESTON Pipe band

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Joe is spent his professional career in financial services management. More than a decade before he retired, he decided to take up the pipes, perhaps because he has a lot of Scottish ancestry in his family.  

Joe would like to thank his pipes instructor Peter Armstrong for his patience and for the fact that Peter is not easily thrown off track by the needs and challenges of beginning students. Up until studying the pipes, Joe had not had any formal music instruction and so he had to learn the pipes and how to read music notation at the same time. However, Joe did have a “leg up” on marching because he was part of a Navy ROTC rifle drill team in college and participated in the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans each year.  He also likes marching and playing with the CPB for parades because “It's fun to see the crowds ramp up when they hear us.” He also enjoys playing "Amazing Grace" at somber events because it touches people's hearts. Joe has a great perspective on participating as piper in the competition circle because he feels that, “We always get better and that’s a victory.”

Joe and his wife Kathy can often be found participating in Scottish clan events in the Lowcountry, at games events in other regions, and also in Scotland. In fact, they got to open the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh one year as members of the honored clan! Other things that we know about Joe is that he is a Navy veteran, avid golfer, history buff, and, with his wife, Kathy, a world traveler.