Gordon Duncan

[DirtyDeeds]

I don't know if any of you guys are much for bagpipes, but give this a listen. I have been piping for going on 15 years now, but I have never really listened to pipes casually, like on the car stereo or anything, so I've been mostly unaware of the rest of the piping world, even though I can honestly say I am pretty good at it myself (I say that humbly, as for most of the 15 years I've mostly disliked piping, but had I guess a natural tendency toward it). A month or two ago I heard this guy, Gordon Duncan for the first time. It's a crying shame he's dead now, because, holy shit, this guy was on fire. Listening to some of his shit, I could almost see bagpipe music of this kind becoming mainstream. When I first heard him playing Thunderstruck (which starts out as the AC/DC tune, but then goes in its own direction soon after), as a piper, I liken it to when kids who had been playing guitar for a while first put the first Van Halen album on their turntables in 1978. I had that kind of reaction. It was THAT amazing to me. And it turned me back on to piping and I'm playing now with a vigor I've never had before.

I want to ask you guys to have a listen to this, and tell me if it sounds as cool to you as it does to me. I want to know if it's my piping background biasing me or if it really is just that good. My favorite is the bit that starts at 1:13, but don't jump ahead because the build-up really sets it. Part of the reason it's so cool is because he uses notes bagpipes aren't supposed to be able to make. He was an innovator.

Thanks for listening and commenting guys; I appreciate it.

Edited January 7, 2012 by DirtyDeeds

[gunsguy]

That is amazing and I must say I have never really ever listened to stuff like this before.

RIP truly talented man he was. Thanks for the post!