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Chicago, United States of America In 1997, Andy and Dave were in Dublin to enjoy the Scotland v Ireland Rugby match, as part of the former Five Nations Rugby Tournament. A chance meeting with an American Gentleman in O'Donaghue's Bar, who said he was studying 'Irish Pub Culture' (nice work if you can get it), was to lead to the band's first opportunities to travel across the Atlantic. The Gentleman in question, one Steve Coleman, was gathering information for his new venture, which was an Irish Pub, to be situated in the South West suburbs of Chicago. Steve is one of four owners who still control The Kerry Piper, which was to become the unoffical U.S. base of the Williamwood Pipe Band. Without the help and support of Steve, The Kerry Piper and its entire staff, the now annual trans-Atlantic excursions would not have been possible. The band travelled to Chicago and helped add a little bit of Scottish flavour to the St Patrick's Day celebrations in and around Chicago. The band's first visit was in March 2000, approximately 2 years ahead of the then optimistic schedule Andy had envisaged for getting the band to the U.S. Further successful trips in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 have now made this event one of the more regular trips on the Piping Services Scotland's Partners' calendars. The band takes part in many activities whilst in Chicago, including marching in both the Chicago St Patrick's Day Parade and the South Side Irish St Patrick's Day Parade. The parades are very demanding, both physically and mentally, however the benefits to doing both greatly outweigh any pain we have to endure. Even more rewarding than these parades is the work and playing the band does in the various schools around Chicago, and also in the foyer of the Children's Memorial Hospital, in downtown Chicago. The schools are as much an education for the band members as they are for the children. Due to the regular trips to Chicago, there are a number of very good relationships that have been formed over the years. One of these is with the Chicago Police Department Pipes & Drums, who have been a major influence on the band. Originally, both Andy and Dave helped tutor the band, when in town, and have kept the friendships and connections that were formed in the early days. In the years we have been to Chicago, we have performed live in a two minute 'NBC, Channel 5 newsreel', which was done by a live feed from one of the Irish Bars on the days preceeding the St Patrick's Day parades. This was aired to over 300 million people, being shown live at 5pm, then again at 10pm. We have also done live radio shows and have appeared on more than one recorded television feed from the parades. Dave deals with the organisation and running of the Chicago trips and has plans in the future to relocate to the city and run some of the operations from there. Following a week of intense marketing in January 2001 the trip is now a lot easier to manage, with much of the contact being confirmed over e-mail, rather than all the previous late night telephone conversations. The band has now played at over 40 different venues and continues to add new venues each year. The band is extremely aware of the support of all the existing and previous venues and they always get first refusal on having the band play the following year. Plans are now underway for the 2005, 6th Annual Chicago visit and details will be posted as they are known. |
Playing Away United Kingdom & Eire United States of America Europe Rest of the World
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