CHARLESTON Pipe band

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John McArdle began taking drumming lessons in 2017 after hearing about the band through a friend. His musical background includes 9 years on the tuba, some music education courses in college, and lots of time messing around with his banjo, mandolin, guitar, bass, tin whistle, bodhran, and accordion.

He originally thought about playing the pipes, but after taking to the drums fairly quickly, he started filling in for gigs and ran with it. He became our third ever Senior Drum Sergeant in 2019, with a vision to bring fun and camaraderie to our corps!

In his free time, he works on a broad repertoire of traditional Irish music on whistle, guitar, and bodhran, leading our trad sessions as they pop up. Ask him to sing or play you a tune if you see him at the pub!