SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES ... Come see Heritage Pipes & Drums in the MUSE OF FIRE: Shakespeare at Sloss spring festival production of MACBETH at Historic Sloss Furnaces in Downtown Birmingham! MACBETH runs one weekend only - May 3-4, 2008. The show starts at 3:00 PM, with gates opening at 2:00 PM for folks to tour the Sloss grounds. General admission tickets are $20, students/seniors/groups are $15. A select number of front-row Patrons' Tables are available for $250, a portion of which is tax-deductible. Tables seat eight, and are extremely limited. Please reserve early!

Buy advance tickets online at www.shakespeareatsloss.com or by calling 205-757-8301. Service charges apply. Tickets are non-refundable, and there is no rain date.

MACBETH is fully handicap accessible.

Please note - some scenes in MACBETH may be scary for small children.

MUSE OF FIRE is a project of Sloss Performing Arts, a cultural program of Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Visit www.shakespeareatsloss.com for more information.

HPD joining forces with Duncan McCall Pipe Band! In 2008, under the leadership of Pipe Major Ryan Morrison, Heritage Pipes & Drums will be joining forces with the Duncan McCall Pipe Band of Pensacola, Florida to form Grade 4 and a Grade 5 competition bands to attend the Stone Mountain Highland Games in October. In 2009, the new amalgamation will attend competitions throughout the southeast, from the Carolinas to Kentucky. Come and join us!!!

HPD practice location has moved! Effective September 1st, 2007, Heritage Pipes & Drums will be conducting practices from 9 AM to noon at the Riverchase Church of Christ gymnasium, located at 1868 Montgomery Highway, (Pelham) Birmingham, AL 35244. PLEASE COME VISIT US AT OUR NEW LOCATION!

Our PM recruited by Grade 3 Pipe Band! Pipe Major Ryan Morrison has been recruited by the Bushmills San Francisco Irish Pipers Pipe Band to compete at various competitions throughout the West Coast area. His first competition is scheduled in mid-February at the Queen Mary Scottish Festival. Other events planned for 2007: Annual Scottish Highland Games and Gathering of the Clans, San Diego, CA, Seattle Scottish Highland Games, Enumclaw, WA, and Caledonian Club of San Francisco Scottish Highland Gathering and Games, Pleasanton, CA.

HPD honored at reception! Heritage Pipes & Drums and Pipe Major Ryan Morrison were recognized for their outstanding commitment to Alabama's Scottish arts by the Alabama Celtic Association at the Celtic Alabama Honors Reception August 13, 2006. HPD was awarded an ACA Honors Award in recognition of their commitment to the Celtic cultural arts in Alabama. Thanks to the ACA for all their support!

Pipe Major Ryan Morrison recruited by grade 3 competition band! During a recent trip to San Francisco, California, Pipe Major Ryan Morrison was recruited by the Bushmills Irish Pipers Pipe Band of San Francisco's Grade 3 band! Though he will not be present for up-coming competition this year in Pleasanton, they are already planning his participation in events in 2007 in Costa Mesa, Pleasanton, Portland, Oregon, and at the Queen Mary Scottish Festival that takes place right on the deck of the Queen Mary herself!

"Scottish music worthy of finale"!!! Heritage Pipes & Drums' performance this year at City Stages 2006 was a grand success!!! Like last year, we headlined the Oasis Stage with an hour-long show on the Mason Corporation Oasis Stage located in the Advent Church Sunday, June 18th at 8:15 PM. Below, Phillip Ratliff reviews our performance:

Tartan plaid enthusiasts got an eyeful. Drone aficionados got an earful. Lovers of the Scottish snap surely found theirs the most satisfying City Stages performance. We could only be talking about one group here, the red-kilted, decibel-laden Heritage Pipes and Drums Band of Birmingham. Their spirited performance of reels, jigs and other Scottish genres gave the Music Oasis a snare-drum bang of a final concert Sunday night.

Phillip Ratliff

To view the actual review, click here.

For more information about City Stages, visit citystages.org.

Hear Heritage Pipes & Drums on Tapestry on WBHM 90.3! Heritage Pipes & Drums of Birmingham, Alabama was featured on the weekly radio show Tapestry starting at 6:30 PM on WBHM 90.3 March 16th, 2006. To listen, please click here. Please don't miss Heritage Pipes & Drums' radio debut!!!

Thank you for supporting Alabama's Heritage!!!

Heritage Pipes & Drums places in competition! Heritage Pipes & Drums enjoyed a successful first half of the competition season, competing in Grade 5 competition at the Gatlinburg Scottish Festival & Games (www.gsfg.org) May 20th, 2006 and the Glasgow Highland Games (www.glasgowhighlandgames.com) June 3rd, 2006. HPD placed 2nd in Gatlinburg and 3rd in Glasgow. HPD will compete once more this year at the Tennessee Highland Games in Murfeesboro, Tennessee (www.hotsc.com) in October.

New Training Program! At the beginning of 2006, HPD instituted a new training program to put all those interested in learning the bagpipe on the fast track! The training program was developed by Pipe Major Ryan Morrison of Heritage Pipes & Drums and is intended to speed the student on their way to the pipes while still learning the rudiments necessary to become a compitent piper. Enrollment requires a one-time registration fee of $50. All of your instructional materials are provided. (ALL students will need to purchase a practice chanter, which the band keeps in stock.) For more information, please email Pipe Major Ryan Morrison or call at (205) 836-2306. Enroll today!!!