![]() ![]() ![]() The group is made up mostly of men, ranging from teens to retirees. Parents have brought their children, including Russell's son, Charlie. Under Ford's instruction, the fledgling posse hammered out horrendous notes.īut they persevered, mostly because of the fellowship. They found a teacher in John Ford, then a Macalester College teacher and director of its pipe band. ![]() One guy says, 'Yeah, but how we gonna learn?' " Russell recalled. Russell, then a social worker, was knocking back a few with his buddies, and someone got the idea of forming the group. The idea for Minnesota's longest-surviving Irish bagpipe band started in a bar. A beginning student can sound dreadful - and there's no way to hide it, given the blaring drone the pipes produce. Players must juggle complex fingering, steady blowing and the squeezing of the bag, making for an exhausting upper-body workout. It's an instrument you've got to beat into submission," Russell said with a laugh. The rookie piper might be able to play just one tune. For the first year or so, most students learn on a practice chanter - similar to a recorder - without picking up the real bagpipe. McCormick began seriously studying the pipes three years ago, when he had the maturity and motivation to keep at it. "I would say, 'Don't bring that up! I want to make friends.' My parents were proud of me, and they would always tell people, 'My son plays the bagpipe,' " he said. Paul's Irish-American community who knew how to play.Īt the time, it was even less cool than today for boys to wear skirts. His father hooked him up with a friend in St. McCormick, who works as an insulator, started playing the pipes when he was 12. Maybe we get one out of 15 who stick with it and become a member of the band," said pipe major John McCormick, who lives on St. They also have a ready supply of salty responses when asked, "What's under the skirt?īut it's the annual August festival that marks the band's high recruiting season.Īfter a few lessons, though, most novice pipers quit. Patrick's Day, the musicians have been goosed by silver-haired ladies. Unlike Scottish pipe bands that sport tartans, the Brian Boru crew - named after the 11th century Irish king - proudly wears the black and saffron kilts of the Irish army.Īt the bars on St. Dozens of newcomers sign up for lessons after seeing the pipers perform at the festival. The band is a crowd favorite at the Irish Fair of Minnesota, which begins today on Harriet Island in St. ![]() If you charge them, you'll drive them away," he said. He and other veteran members have taught dozens of students how to play the pipes for free. Yet it's largely volunteers like Russell who have fueled the survival of Brian Boru and, with it, a piece of Irish tradition in Minnesota. The Minneapolis man retired a couple of years ago because of Parkinson's disease and back problems. The ragtag crew that Russell organized has endured for 45 years in the face of high turnover and warring factions. It stirs you," said Chuck "Stubby" Russell, 79, tapping his heart. One of the men who founded the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band in 1962 sits on a stoop of a nearby business and listens. Just when the sun sets over the SuperTarget, they pipe songs about elusive maidens and dead heroes. Paul is crying.Ī circle of bagpipers floats the deedle-deedle-dum of Celtic melancholy every Tuesday evening. Right beside the Clean 'N' Press, a parking lot in West St. 10-Drive past the Menards and the Pineda Tacos and the Wal-Mart, and follow your ears. ![]()
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