The beginning
A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick (Canada), I began my drumming career with the Fredericton Society of St. Andrew Pipe Band organization in 1990, at the age of eight years old. After progressing through the Grade 4 band and becoming the lead drummer of the Grade 3 band, I began tutoring at the organization’s academy. The following year, I progressed to the group’s premier band in Grade 2 where I stayed for over a decade, during which both the corps and band achieved many successes including numerous North American championships that lead the band to be upgraded to Grade 1. During this time, I also guested with the Grade 1 Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band of New Zealand at the World Pipe Band Championships, where the band finished ninth.
After returning to Canada, I took the position of head drumming instructor at the College of Piping where, in the first year of my leadership, the band won the Grade 4 North American Championship and was upgraded to Grade 3. The following year, the band attended the World Pipe Band Championships where they finished fourth and runner-up in drumming. From there, I became lead drummer of the Dartmouth and District Grade 2 band for one season before leaving the Maritimes to become a musician in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The middle
Soon after being posted to Winnipeg in 2009, I served as the lead drummer of the Royal Canadian Air Force Band for seven years, travelling and performing in Southeast Asia, Europe, the United States and across Canada. Before leaving the military, I obtained the highest level of credential available for a pipe band musician at the time. During my time in Winnipeg, I was a member of the Winnipeg Police Pipe Band whose drum corps would go undefeated during my five years with the group, and was upgraded to Grade 2 after winning the North American Championship drumming title in 2017. During this period, I was also a member of the Viscount Park Grade 2 band out of Edmonton. In 2014, Viscount Park was a guest band at the Lorient International Celtic Festival in Brittany (France). This was my third time at the festival, having attended in 1998 and 2004 with the Fredericton band.
Today
After leaving the Canadian Forces, I moved to Edmonton where I live today and operate my drumming studio. Shortly after arriving here, I became the head instructor with the Edmonton Youth Pipe Band, a position I still hold today. In September 2023, I became the lead drummer for North Stratton Pipe Band (Grade 2), which I have been a member of since 2018 and with whom I travel to Scotland annually to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships, where we most recently finished seventh out of 20 bands. As well, I am a certified adjudicator with the Alberta Society of Pipers and Drummers where I am also a member of the music committee.
In 2018, I travelled back to Brittany to compete with the 23-time Bagadoù National Championship winner Bagad Kemper (Grade 1), winning the drumming title that year as well as in 2019, and most recently, in 2023. I now travel annually to perform and compete with Bagad Kemper.
In 2024, my North Stratton drum corps became the World drumming champions, with the band placing second overall—just one week after we took home the European championship title both as a band and drum corps.
