Bands – Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band

I met Jim Caddis, founder and Pipe Major of the Niagara Regional Pipe Band in the fall of 1993. I had known of Jim and the band, however they were strictly a parade/performance band where Clan MacFarlane focused on competitions. Our paths rarely crossed. Clan MacFarlane ceased operations in 1993 with several members joining Jake Watson’s Toronto Police Pipe Band. This influx of talent helped establish Toronto Police as a top contender in the years that followed.

I found the end of Clan MacFarlane very hard to accept and put the pipes under the bed. Late summer / early fall I received an invitation to travel to Memphis, Tennessee to play a gig with NRPPB. The band numbers were very small and “mercenaries” helped fill out the ranks and strengthen the sound and playing. I didn’t know it at the time, however Jim was dealing with some serious health issues. Shortly after the trip he asked me to take over the band.

All that winter we worked hard to increase the numbers and to improve the quality of the product. In those days, NRPPB produced and performed at a military-style tattoo each May. It was a two-day event that netted the band about $25,000. Obviously, my initial focus was on that event. We worked very hard over the winter and into the Spring.

One of my fondest memories was to see our Drum Major, Dave Hunter, with tears in his eyes when he saw the band march up for the first time. We were 25 pipers strong with a full drum corps. Dave can be seen in the picture above right behind the colour guard, eyes directly at the camera. I even got tenor drummer Andy Miller out of retirement, to the delight of every audience we played for.

The following year we took the band into Grade 3 and won a couple of major contests. Ed Neigh wrote on our sheet at Cambridge “Interesting choice of opening tune” What else. The Drunken Piper. I sent John Perrie (70 years young) up to collect 1st prize at the end of the day. John’s son and grandson were also in the band.

I left the band as Pipe Major in 1995. I was commuting into Toronto from St. Catharines daily and simply needed a break. Again, the pipes went under the bed. I played with Dofasco in 1997 and 1998 which was an outstanding experience. Jamie Connolly was a master at getting the pipes to play tight unison. After back-to-back North American Championships in Grade 2 I returned to NRPPB under PM Al Ash in 1999. In 1999, 2000, and 2001 the band was a powerhouse. Al was a “natural” leader and made the hard work seem fun.  He was also an excellent “tone man”. Although we played Grade 2 there were several contests where we would have won the Grade 1 contest. It’s hard to explain. We were a band of seasoned veterans (old timers) who wanted one more kick at the cat. We finished off 2001 with a 2nd place finish at the Worlds.

The audio clips below are fun. Caber Feidh was literally “right out of the box” at Kincardine in 2000. You can hear talk and tuning and general hubbub going on within the tune. The second sound file is the “Cheers and Beers” contest at Schenectady one year. We essentially learned and arranged this on the buss trip down. We were still making changes on our way into the beer tent to perform. Great bunch of musicians.

As a final note, Jim Caddis regained his health and I was pleased to appoint him Pipe Major of the Grade 5 “Jack Dunbar Memorial Pipe Band” within the Braemar organization. They won the North American Championship in 2004. Jim was an outstanding role model and leader. Sadly, Jim died on November 1, 2019.