The New Southern View Ezine / Arts & Literature - Father of Waters Pipe and Drum Band Page 2

The Skirl of the Pipes in the Deep South

article and photographs by Bill Pitts

I had the pleasure of being invited to the band’s first recording session. This took place at the Brandon Assembly of God on a Saturday this past July [2004]. When I arrived at the church, they were posing for the CD cover, dressed up in full regalia (see below). Not a site one sees very often in Mississippi.

After the photographer—Scott Roberts, the brother of one of the pipers—was finished with his job, I had a chance to talk with Kris. He told me that “It’s always been my dream to see this band become the official state pipe and drum band of Mississippi because we’ve been such good ambassadors and the people have received us well. They say ‘I didn’t know there was a bagpipe band in Mississippi!’ but when they hear the sound...something stirs. Hopefully Mississippi will one day reach the point that it has in other types of music...that we’ll have the same representation in the fields of bagpipe music and also Celtic. We’re getting there, what you’re seeing right here is the very beginning.”

Margaret Carmichael (left-hand photo) monitors the sound levels as the band plays "Scotland the Brave" (center photo). Steven Giles (on the right in the right-hand photo) helps Danielle Temple tune her pipes, while Drum Sergeant Danny Temple waits in the background for the recording session to begin.

It was definitely a family affair: Kris’s wife, Margaret, took care of the bulk of the sound mixing, sitting in the balcony overlooking the sanctuary (see above). Kris’s cousin, Mike Carmichael, served as sound technician, overseeing the choice and placement of microphones, and recommending the best techniques for capturing quality sound.

For more information about the Father of Waters Pipes and Drums Band, please visit their Web site at www.fatherofwaters.com/. This will open a new page.