Image Credit: Debra Prince http://www.imageprince.com
Today we’d like to introduce you to Ross Naismith.
Ross, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Where to begin! The House of Scotland Pipe Band has always called Balboa Park home. Given our name, we share a very close relationship with the House of Scotland Cultural Cottage also of Balboa Park. The Pipe Band actually started off as a Juvenile band and then morphed into a band for all ages over time. The band now enjoys seeing so many skillful youth in its ranks on a regular basis. It’s one of the unique factors of a Pipe Band, you can have a 15 year old and a 65 year old playing together, it really does bring people of all ages, and all walks of life together. The band travels throughout the West Coast to compete and perform. We do also travel to other parts of the country and sometimes internationally. Last year we attended 2 competitions in Canada and in one of those competitions we took 1st place at the Montreal Highland Games. As you can imagine the band was very pleased with that. Pipe Bands are graded on a scale from Grade 5 to Grade 1, Grade 5 being the beginning Grade and Grade 1 being the highest. We currently have 2 bands in our organization, one in Grade 5 and one in Grade 3. We are always looking for new members so if you know anyone, or you yourself are interested, please do get in touch! Instruments played in the band include bagpipes, snare drums, tenor drums and bass drum. Or if you’d like to be a supporter, we’d love to hear from you.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think most Pipe Bands will tell you there have been ups and downs. We are definitely well solidified now with strong leadership and a healthy membership. What also helps is having a lot of youth to help carry the band into the future. But you do need veteran players. You need to have that balance of youth and veterans to build a strong band. We currently have that strong mix of young players and veterans, and I think that is why we have been so successful over the past few years.
House of Scotland Pipe Band – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We practice every Monday night in Balboa Park in the Hall of Nations, which is steps away from the Speckles Organ Pavilion. We are there from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Some weekends we practice too.
For as long as I can remember, the band as always offered free lessons to the public on these Monday nights from 6:00 – 6:30. If you’d like to come down it is encouraged to get in touch beforehand so we can be better prepared for you. These lessons are designed for people to “give it a go” as they say. It’s basically a mini lesson. If a prospective student is still interested after a number of mini lessons, more structured private lessons can be obtained through our leadership.
We compete and perform throughout the West Coast on a regular basis. Sometimes we get hired out for various engagements. One of the big events we do every year is perform at Balboa Parks yearly December Nights Festival.
We are also known as the official band of the House of Pacific Relations, which is the overseeing body of all the international houses, also known as cottages, in Balboa Park.
I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to our sponsors. We are all volunteers in the House of Scotland Pipe Band. We are also a 501c3 non-profit. There are a lot of expenses to run a Pipe Band and every bit of sponsorship we can get is very much appreciated. It is with the help of these organizations and companies that we can do what we do, and they are the House of Scotland Cultural Cottage, McCallum Bagpipes, and Ballast Point Brewing Company & Spirits.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This is a very difficult question to answer. In the jurisdiction of the Western United States Pipe Band Association, we were the only Pipe Band to place Top 3 in every contest we entered over the past 2 years. I am very proud of this. It speaks to so many things. That consistency is remarkable and just about unheard of, and it’s a testament to everyone in the band. Very close to that is winning 1st place at the Montreal Highland Games. I would also like to say that it is so great to see the way our youth are developing. They are not only skillful musicians, but great people. I’m very proud of all the people in the band.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://hospb.org
- Phone: 619.206.9728
- Email: ross.r.naismith@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hospb/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hospb/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hospbsd
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