LATEST NEWS

Happy New Year to all The Harp readers from the Birmingham Irish Pipes and Drums. We hope you all had a great Christmas and brought the New Year in with a bang. As a band we have had a break over the Christmas with no practice for 3 weeks, although some pipers and drummers have been out at a couple of parties over the period playing a few tunes.

When we start back at practice on Tuesday 6th January it will be the first of many practices devoted to improving our tunes for the up and coming St Patrick’s events. There are quite a few of them, starting on the 6th March at the St Pauls School for girls Irish Night and culminating in playing 2 parades on the same day in County Wicklow. The 53 seater coach is booked and full and work is under way to get all the details and timings finalised.  We played in Wicklow 2 years ago and are looking forward to another visit there and having a great time.

When we do go away on trips we always seem to have a great time. We are an unusual bunch in that we never fall out with each other. We have some very talented musicians in the band who play instruments other than band instruments and the coach will be full of fiddles, accordions, small pipes, guitars and the odd bodhran or three. The ferry is generally the first music venue and we generally get a few musicians in the bars and restaurants joining in with us as well. From there, the party just goes on and on. The last night before we leave we will have a great knees up and the odd one or two fancy dresses will appear as well. The journey home is generally fairly quiet but, it is the first chance we will have had to have a rest!

So roll on Wicklow. We are working hard on some new sets so that you will hear a few different tunes over the next few months and hopefully some new faces as the juniors start to swell our ranks. There is a fundraising dance for the band being held at St Francis on the 14th February. All funds raised are for the band and we would like to thank Anne Calahane and all the others involved in organising the evening and we look forward to a great night.