[♫ “Amazing Grace” played on a bagpipe]
- I worked for Phoenix Fire Department down in Arizona,
and I have a friend who was a the only bagpiper
in the Phoenix Fire Department.
He was playing all the funerals and events,
and he's like, man, if I
if I can help you learn the bagpipes
could you help me do some of these gigs?
And I worked there for about three years learning how
to play the bagpipes way down there.
And then I came up to Seattle,
returning home, to be a firefighter here.
In 1995,
Seattle Fire Department
lost four members in the Pang warehouse fire.
And, the Vancouver Police Pipes and Drums came down
from Vancouver, Canada, and played the funerals
for those guys.
And that meant a lot to everyone
in the Seattle Fire Department.
[♫ “Amazing Grace”]
We will be Forever indebted to Vancouver police for doing that for us.
I felt I had a skill that I could
bring the Seattle Fire Department,
and that we could have enough people that could learn
this instrument
where we could honor our own fallen in the future.
By the right, left, march!
- 2004 is going to be officially kicked it off.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
But ‘03 is when it really started.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
- When the opportunity came.
I jumped on it.
Not being musically gifted.
I was. I gravitated towards the drums.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
You know, one note.
Repeat as necessary.
I had actually played the drums as a as a kid
and was very interested in the drum part of it.
Also, the technical drumming.
The drummers,
they have three different instruments that we work off of.
The side drum,
It was like the snare drum and it's very loud.
It's like a .22 going off when you're hitting them.
[♫ drums]
And the Scottish drumming is very technical.
Which is what makes it interesting to people.
- I was a tenor drummer to start with.
The tenor drummer is the one that spins the,
spins the sticks, more visual than audible.
- Tenor drummers are like a tom tom,
and they've got a softer mallet.
[♫ drums]
And then the bass drum, of course, is the big bass drum.
That's the one where you got to be nice and strong
to haul that one around.
- After our bass drummer, the original bass
drummer, hurt his back and couldn't do it anymore.
I moved over to the, to the bass.
I've been doing that ever since.
[♫] - Seven, six...
I've been playing for
35, 36 years now.
I'm not a firefighter.
I thought I was just going to teach them bagpipes.
And you know, I've got I've gotten drawn into this world.
That’s what brings out some of the expression, there right.
[♫ bagpipes]
I almost never play at those events
because I'm more useful in the background
helping other people
make sure their instruments are up to snuff.
I call it Scottish soul music.
It gets you right in your heart.
There's something about the frequencies.
So we've got the chanter where we play our melody
and the three pipes that
stick up over the shoulder are called drones.
And they just hum in the background constantly.
And so there's,
there's literally this, om.
[♫ bagpipes]
And then the frequencies
of the chanter interact with that.
And, you know, some of them bland and some of them clash.
And that's kind of the unique
sound of the bagpipe that sets up sort of,
an emotional response that we can't explain.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
They often lift morale.
You know, I don't think you've met
anyone who has seen them play or watched them march,
and they don't smile and feel a sense of pride.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
We've had some really interesting gigs,
like we got to play. Opened for the Dropkick Murphys.
[♫ bagpipes and drums] [audience cheering]
[♫ electric guitars]
We opened for, Rod Stewart.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
We've played at Mariners games.
We did torchlight parade.
Saint Patrick's day parade.
We do all the awards banquets for Seattle
Fire Department, recruit graduations, things like that.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
The reason we started the bands
for funerals, memorials for police and firefighters.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]
So back then, we were one of the only fire
department pipe bands in the northwest.
So we were traveling all over Washington state
and even going out of state to play funerals
for police and firefighters.
Now there's lots of bands around.
- It’s important to note
that all of these individuals are firefighters first,
and they chose to learn to play the bagpipes
or the drums
to to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
- It's an honor to be able to, to help the firefighters
learn this skill
so that they can honor fallen brothers and sisters.
And you know, that's like a calling way
beyond anything that I thought I was ever going
to be involved in.
- The parades and the and the graduations.
That's, that's that's fun.
And it's, keeps us in practice.
But, primarily we're,
you know, for funerals and memorials.
[bells ringing] [♫ bagpipes and drums]
- It was the mournful toll of the Bell
that solemnly announce the comrades passing.
- It does seem to mean a lot to the families.
And that's why we do it
for the surviving members, surviving friends.
[♫ bell ringing] [♫ bagpipes and drums]
- I think we're done through the Tacoma Dome,
and we're playing Amazing Grace.
And I made the mistake of making eye contact
with one of the one of the family members.
And both of us.
I'm ready to tear up right now just talking about it.
It is.
It is heartbreaking
to see those young families and, you know,
and listen to the stories and hear, you know,
the sacrifices that the people are making every day
for society.
And, you know, the fact that we can,
you know, just make that day a little bit better
and honor that sacrifice, makes everything worthwhile.
[♫ bagpipes and drums]