I have played bagpipes at a multitude of events...

...some where you would expect to hear the familiar sound, others where passersby and visitors just had to be thinking "hmmm, now there's something you don't see everyday."

A few examples?

The Waco Convention Center-Waco, Texas, at a political dinner, which in itself is not all that odd, but coinciding events were a Gun and Knife Show/Convention as well as high dollar black-tie charity dinner.

A Jewish wedding

Duechenfest, a local small German towns annual festival

The Watermelon Thump- Luling, Texas

Local elections

Golf tournaments... true there is the Scottish connection to golf, but usually the sound you'd here most often on a golf course instead of bagpipes is "shhhhhhhhh." (golfers don't tend to like it noisy while puttting for a hundred grand.)

Libraries (surprisingly they did NOT worry about the noise thing)

7:30 a.m. Saturday morning at a water-stop for a 5k race. (I believe this was the only time I have been asked to quit playing them. Definitely the noise thing)

A memorial service at a local animal shelter

A Brittish car show

There are more on the list, and I guess my point is that no matter how out-of-place the pipes might seem at your event, there is almost ALWAYS a way to use them. And with the exception of an occasional local resident who lives by a park and water-stop at the small-town festivals 5k race, most people will stop in their tracks and seek out the sound of the pipes because they actually WANT to hear them once they've heard them in the distance.

That attraction to the sound of pipes, (which I believe is a genetic thing), can be used in many ways:

If you have an event that you want to draw the neighbors to, put out a piper and they will come.

If you are having a sale or promotion in a retail area where foot traffic is key and want to attract patrons over to your end of the shopping center, put out a piper and they will come.

If you're selling ANYTHING, which requires drawing a crowd, put out a piper and they will come.

If you think that your event could benefit from having a piper, please e-mail or phone me at (512) 251-6336.