This is the first part of a two-part interview with America Patton & David Duncan regarding the life, philosophy, and music of Rufus Harley. Tune into this episode to hear some of Rufus' bagpipe music, some of his singing, and some of his saxophone work as well - and to hear some lovely insights from his son, America and what I think we can safely call his, "artistic heir," David Duncan. LINKS: Learn more about Rufus and the Rufus Harley foundation by following America: https://www.facebook....
Aug 17, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 130
Sam Vogt plays a mean whistle - but that's not all! A skilled guitarist, a capable collaborator, and a delightful conversationalist (and much more, of course). Tune into this episode to hear Sam tell us the story of how he once, "made (him)self a flute and then realized... "oh... I don't know how to play this..."" Check out Sam's music on BandCamp: https://samvogt.bandcamp.com/album/whistle-tunes And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samvogtmusic/ And congrats to Carol for winning the albu...
Aug 03, 2025•58 min•Ep. 129
This is kind of messy, friends, but here's the TLDR: I would love to hear an audio snapshot of "your journey" toward a competition, recording, composition, performance, etc Use this as a model (of what to do or of what not to do) and record yourself prepping for a gig, writing a tune, etc and send it in to be featured on a future episode Also, I'm launching Verdant Musical Instruments (in future I'll update these notes so there'll be a link right here) starting with pennywhistles in A, Bb, C, D,...
Jul 19, 2025•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 128
Alec is back! A multi-piper, dad, creator of Get Bagpipe Ready , recording artist, performer, and recently-converted-whistler: Alec is an all-around excellent human being and we got to talk through lots of stuff including the recently released Celtic Routes album: Song of the Celts Tune into this episode to hear Alec's confession regarding an upside-down whistle. Check out the new Celtic Routes album here: https://www.celticroutes.band/#!/song-of-the-celts And check out Alec's "Get Bagpipe Ready...
Jul 05, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 127
Michael Page is an enthusiastic piper of approx. 20 years, currently playing with Wasatch & District and currently on his (approx.) 26th set of bagpipes. Tune into this episode to hear Mike's tried and tested drone-reed combo! - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/droning.on.podcast/ - You can write-in to the show with comments, ideas, requests, etc. at TheDroningOnPodcast@gmail.com - Support the show via Patreon ( patreon.com...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 126
Cedar Dobson isn't just a unicycling mermaid: she makes music too! You may well have seen her playing double-whistles under bridges, wild 3D printed whistles in forests, and more. Cedar joined me for an interview a while ago, and we discussed (mostly) her album from 2022. Since then she's released more excellent music, including her very recent, "Decade," album which is truly excellent - check out the links below! Tune into this episode to hear some samples from Cedar's, "Harmonies," album. LINK...
Jun 07, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 125
The cowboy piper from Montana: Hart, himself, has graced the show with his presence this week. A delightful conversation partner, I'm very happy to share this extremely enjoyable conversation with you! Tune into this episode to hear which pipeband 9/10 Russian Oligarchs trust, when they need bagpipe music at a castle in Scotland - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/droning.on.podcast/ - You can write-in to the show with comments,...
May 24, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 124
Owen Kennedy is an amazing fiddler & a lot of his sets, tunes, stylings, etc will be delightfully familiar to pipers of generally, "Western European, Scandinavian, and North American," persuasion(s). Tune into this episode to hear Owen say that his favorite dancers to play for, are the ones he can't see or hear (JK, he loves playing for dancers, I'm joking). Here's Owen's website: https://www.fiddlerokennedy.com/ And the album we talked through for this episode: https://fiddlerowenkennedy.ba...
May 10, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 123
Quite possibly the worlds first and most recognizable online bagpipe instructor, Andrew Douglas, is back, folks! Advice on solo competition, musing over healthy habits, and more - check it out! Oh, and, "people should join the Dojo". Tune into this episode to hear Andrew & Jim reinvigorate the good ol' Tide Pods meme(s). Check out everything Andrew and his team are doing over at the Piper's Dojo / Dojo University: https://www.pipersdojo.university/ - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.c...
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 122
Arle's a really fun person to talk instruments with - his experience across a lot of, "uncommon," instruments ranges from wide to deep. He has cool music scattered all over the internet, definitely worth a google! Tune into this episode to hear the true secret to making good money busking. Here's Arle's Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/arle-richard-lommel And Arle's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/fenevadka - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And I...
Apr 12, 2025•57 min•Ep. 121
It's a 3-episode month, y'all! Jeremy's back! And it's about time - this album is long overdue a discussion and sampling. If you haven't checked it out already, be sure to do so! We cover a lot of tracks in this episode, but not all of them! Links below for this and all of Jeremy's other excellent music. Tune into this episode to hear James somehow get drunk as Jeremy drinks whiskey about 1,000 miles away. Here are links to Jeremy's stuff: Website: https://www.wetootwaag.com/ Bandcamp: https://j...
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 120
Matt DeBlass is a delightful musician, teacher, and conversation partner. Check out the very cool album of originals, "Small Musics," from which we pulled tracks for this episode along with lots of other releases over on Matt's BandCamp page (link below). Tune into this episode to hear Matt share, The DeBlass Theory of Folk Song Fatality: "...if they don't otherwise explain how they die, just assume it was werewolves." Here's a link to Matt's website: https://mattdeblass.com/ Here's a link to Ma...
Mar 19, 2025•57 min•Ep. 119
Matt DeBlass is a delightful musician, teacher, and conversation partner. Check out the very cool album of originals, "Small Musics," from which we pulled tracks for this episode along with lots of other releases over on Matt's BandCamp page (link below). Tune into this episode to hear Matt share, The DeBlass Theory of Folk Song Fatality: "...if they don't otherwise explain how they die, just assume it was werewolves." Here's a link to Matt's website: https://mattdeblass.com/ Here's a link to Ma...
Mar 15, 2025•57 min
The more I talk to, read about, watch, and listen to Donald Lindsay the more baffled I am at what all this person has accomplished - and he's not slowing down! Tune into this episode to hear a bagpipe maker talk about why Emu's in the garden were a nostalgic sight for his father - probably the first time that's ever happened on a podcast! Donald's work is all over the internet, but here are a few good links: Donald's Website: https://www.donaldwglindsay.com/ Donald's Insta: https://www.instagram...
Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 118
Jordan Alexander Key is a bagpiper, composer, music lover, teacher, mathematician, podcaster, and so much more. Tune into this episode to hear us hit a new record for, "math-chat," in the show's history. And check out Jordan's work at the following links and elsewhere: Website: https://www.jordanalexanderkey.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JordanAlexanderKey Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.key.33/ And if you haven't yet, check out their very cool podcast, "The Dudelsack," where...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 117
Tommy is a talented multi-instrumentalist: if an instrument is uncommon and/or challenging, he's probably into it. The piper+whistler+banjo plucker for the Dunkirk Riots, Tommy took an hour to chat with me when he could've been making music so I'm very grateful to him and very excited to share this interview with you! Tune into this episode to hear Tommy speak these fateful words: "I picked up a banjo along the way..." Check out the Dunkirk Riots' website: https://dunkirkriots.com/home And their...
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 116
Ross Ainslie is a piper (and much more) who needs no introduction. Very excited to welcome him back on the show, this time to talk about his new album, "POOL". Tune into this episode to learn Ross' secret to keeping live performances interesting: always stay uncomfortable! Here's a link to the new album on Bandcamp: https://rossainslie.bandcamp.com/album/pool And here's a link to Ross' website: https://www.rossainslie.com/ And be sure to check out, "The Ollam," with whom Ross will be touring in ...
Jan 18, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 115
Swan is back for another New-Year episode & book chat, this time the title is "Effortless Mastery" by jazz pianist, instructor, and author (obviously) Kenny Werner. Tune into this episode to hear Jim come to several somber realizations regarding his own unhealthy shadow - live on air! Here's Kenny Werner's website: https://kennywerner.com/ And here's the book as listed on Amazon (though it's available all over the place): https://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Mastery-Liberating-Master-Musician/d...
Jan 04, 2025•56 min•Ep. 114
Andrew O'Sullivan is back to help kick-off what we might call, "Season 2," of the Droning On Podcast with a very special holiday-music episode. Tune into this episode to hear way more tunes about Donkeys than you were probably expecting... Here are links to some of the albums, musicians, etc we referenced in this episode: Bergfolk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy3033tKnl4 Conspiratio : https://conspiratio.bandcamp.com/album/wassail Wheezer & Squeezer : https://wheezersqueezer.bandcamp.co...
Dec 21, 2024•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 113
Thanks so much for listening, friends! The celebratory album is currently available on all major streaming & music-purchasing platforms. Just search for it by the album name, "Pipes for Peace," or the main-artist name, "The Droning On Podcast". And, of course, it's still available on BandCamp: https://droningon.bandcamp.com/album/pipes-for-peace Thanks again for listening, here's to a robust "Season 2" soon!...
Aug 05, 2024•53 min•Ep. 112
Hello friends! As if two episodes in a row of (mostly) monologues weren't enough -- this week what I have for you is chapter two of this 123-year-old book about bagpipes. The chapter heading reads as follows: Ancient musical instruments - Priestly harpers - Hereditary harpers - Irish versus Scottish harpers - Royal harpers - Use of harp universal - Welsh sarcasm - Mary Queen of Scots' harp - The last of the harpers - "The Harper of Mull" - From harp to pipes - the Clarsach - Pipes supplanting ba...
Jul 20, 2024•21 min•Ep. 111
Tune into this episode to hear EVEN MORE of Jim's inner monologue... Check out Barry's cool books: https://capebretonpiper.com/products - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/droning.on.podcast/ - You can write-in to the show with comments, ideas, requests, etc. at TheDroningOnPodcast@gmail.com - Support the show via Patreon ( patreon.com/DroningOnPodcast ), or by buying cool stuff at BagpipeSWAG.com - - - And now, some keywords: B...
Jul 06, 2024•57 min•Ep. 110
Tune into this episode to hear waaaaay too much of Jim's inner monologue... This included brief meetings with friends old and new, including some who've been on the show before, like: Al: episode #7 Heidi: episode #1 Jeff: episode #77 Diana: episode #2 And more! Check out Ian MacHarg's cool album: https://iainmacharg.bandcamp.com/album/ce-l-na-beinne-music-of-the-mountain And check out Barry's cool books: https://capebretonpiper.com/products - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningO...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 109
William Wallace - yes, indeed, THE Sir William Wallace, is here for an interview. Enjoy, folks! Tune into this episode for, among other things, some great coffee shop ambiance... - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/droning.on.podcast/ - You can write-in to the show with comments, ideas, requests, etc. at TheDroningOnPodcast@gmail.com - Support the show via Patreon ( patreon.com/DroningOnPodcast ), or by buying cool stuff at Bagp...
Jun 08, 2024•44 min•Ep. 108
Erik, if we can convince him, is going to need another half-dozen 2-hour episodes for us to begin scratching the surface of his body of work, wealth of knowledge, etc. Tune into this episode to hear way more than you'd really like to know about, "Pasta Pestilencia," and many, many other things. Erik's Website: https://www.ask-upmark.se/indexeng.html Falsbordone's Website (Erik has a lot of projects, but we mostly focused on their 1350 album): http://www.falsobordone.se/ And be sure to get the al...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 107
Ruth Chiles is a specialist in Focal Dystonia and, as a musician herself, she works particularly with musicians. She's created support groups, hours and hours of video, appeared in many interviews, and written a book, (with another book on the way!) Links to her work are below. Tune into this episode to hear Jim ramble on incessantly, proving that Ruth is a very patient and gracious listener. Obviously an excellent person to work with! Here's a link to her website: https://focaldystoniacure.com/...
May 11, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 106
So sorry for the late upload, friends. And I'm afraid even for all that, it's not a, "typical," episode, either. I have several great interviews with very cool guests all in the edit-phase and didn't manage to get one ready for this weekend, so instead I'm pulling out the first chapter of an audiobook production I've been putting together of this 123-year-old book about bagpipes you may've heard about - I hope it's reasonably enjoyable! Thanks again for tuning in, and have a lovely week! Tune in...
Apr 29, 2024•21 min•Ep. 105
Chris Gray is a very talented multi-instrumentalist composer and he was very gracious to hop into this interview talking about his past, his music, and specifically his excellent self-titled album. Tune-in to this episode to hear the host hold Chris hostage for questioning waaaaay longer than is fair... Here's a link to the album we're discussing, check it out and get yourself a copy! https://chrisgray1.bandcamp.com/album/chris-gray Here's Chris' website: https://chrisgraymusic.com/ And here are...
Apr 13, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 104
Michael Gibbs is the guy to talk to if you want some o' them "heathen" style pipes... (here's the Facebook profile for the, " Heathen Highlanders ," group) Tune into this episode to hear Jim & Mike sniff and cough through their seasonal allergies WAY more than you wanted to hear, ever... Here's a link to the cool video we started off talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d285tKoj16U - We're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroningOnPodcast And Instagram: https://www.instagram.c...
Mar 30, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 103
PRIZES! Thank you all again many, many times over! I'll be emailing winners within a couple of days. Thank you a million times over to everyone who participated in this project. I'll be sure to let you know just how much we ended up raising for the charity in this initial launch-time, but I can already see it's over $1,000 - great work, everyone, thank you again! Winners: Adrian Melvin Reeds: Sarah Campbell BagpipeSwag GC (1): JD Ingraham Bagpipe Swag GC (2): Kevan Saunders Bagpipe Swag GC (3): ...
Mar 18, 2024•10 min
