Oregon Piper

Raw tunes and tales from a bagpiper, actor, and gamer from Portland. Pull up your kilt and stay awhile. OregonPiper.com

[markmullaney]

McMenamins Halfway to St. Pat's Celebration

While most people don't celebrate the "halfway" point to holidays, McMenamins certainly does! The well-known restaurant chain and I will be doing our best to give you one more excuse to drink this Saturday, September 17th. Here are the locations I'll be piping through:

Crystal Ballroom

23rd Avenue Bottle Shop

St. John's

White Eagle

Chapel Pub

Kennedy School (my old stomping ground)

and last but certainly not least, Edgefield (my old, OLD stomping ground). There'll also be traditional Celtic music played throughout the day to tie you over until I get there. Come find me! 

[markmullaney]

Oregon Piper + David Douglas Football = Awesome

It's football season, and I'm piping at every David Douglas home game this season! This is fitting as they are the David Douglas "Scots", and ironic because my (sort of) alma mater was Monmouth College, and their mascot? The Scots. 

In short, I and several other pipers and drummers were essentially the mascots of the school, and piped at every football game, volleyball game, swim meet, and sometimes even...frat parties! It was an incredibly small, mid-western private college in an even smaller town surrounded by corn in rural Illinois, and they loved their division 3 sports. If you think people go nuts about OSU and UO over here (which are division 1, and UO was my second school), I can tell you from experience that the excitement over our little D3 team at Monmouth was absolutely on par. 

Come see me and the team at any of the following home games (all of which start at 7pm):

This Friday, September 16th

Next Friday, September 23rd

October 7th

October 21st

Tickets are extremely nominally priced. Hope to see you there!

[markmullaney]

Portland Metro Pipe Band's performance from the World Pipe Band Championships!

Portlandia goes to Scotlandia! Fresh piping served straight from the country it was invented in. We worked our hardest all year for this trip, and played really well at four different events (one of which being the World Pipe Band Championships). 

Judging at piping competitions has always and historically been a strange duck. I think any piper and/or drummer would agree that there are times where you play terribly and get 1st, and times where you play incredibly and get slammed. As I've always told my students (and myself), you are your best judge, and, in a way, you're competing against yourself. Here's what I mean by this: 

You are the only person who has intimate knowledge of your playing ability and your progress over the years. The judge may hear you once (or twice, if you're lucky), but you have heard every moment of your playing since you first began, and are therefore better informed of your true potential. Basically, you know if you played well or not, for you.

I felt that we played very well, for us. The placing's came in a little lower than we wanted, but we did receive a 3rd in piping at North Berrick, and a 4th overall at Bridge of Allan. Here's the vids:

And for those who haven't seen them yet here's a few action shots from the trip:

Thanks to my bandmates, to you, and to everyone else who has followed and supported us this year- and here's to the new season!

[markmullaney]

A memoir of our antics from the final tours of ZooZoo. The show is officially retired from the road now so this will be the last one!

[markmullaney]

Oregon Piper away to Scotland for World Pipe Band Championships

It's that time of year again. The time of year when the weather is pretty much guaranteed to be great in the Pacific NW, everyone's getting married, and I'm inconveniently out of the country for the entire month of August. My band, the Portland Metro Pipe Band, is headed to Glasgow, Scotland for our third trip to the "World Pipe Band Championships", the largest pipe band competition in the world. We'll be competing in the hotly-contested grade 2 level against about 24 bands (which is quite a few considering there are only two on the entire West Coast). Keep an eye on this blog for videos of our performances! After the pipe band trip I'm taking an impromptu solo trip to Ireland, where my sole mission will be to play and hear as much traditional Celtic music as possible.  Wish us luck! I'll be gone from August 1st to August 25th If you're looking for a bagpiper during this time please contact my piper-friend Travis Dutton, whom I've played alongside for 5+ years at: [email protected]

[markmullaney]

Oregon Piper to star in "Frozen" on Broadway

In recent news that shockered internet readers regionally, Oregon Piper (aka Markus Aurelius) will be starring in the highly acclaimed, live-action Broadway adaptation of "Frozen". The 42 day run will freeze up his schedule from Feb 15th to March 27th and sadly cause him to miss St. Patrick's Day in Portland. If you're looking for a piper during this time please contact Markus's union understudy Will Beatti at 541.740.0568. While it was hard to let America's greatest holiday go, Markus assured us that this is the last time he's leaving town for quite an indefinitely, and will be available for indefinitely going forward. For those of you numb enough to read on, here is a list of all the places he will be stopping for gas in the next 42 days:

Naperville, IL

Eau Claire, WI

Cedar Falls, IA

La Crosse, WI

Iowa City, IA

Long Branch, NJ

Salisbury, MD

Great Barrington, MA

Manchester, NH

Storrs, CT

Frederick, MD

Gettysburg, PA

Rochester, NY

[markmullaney]

The Game of Thrones theme played by Khaleesi and friend on the bagpipes. A suite we devised from the main theme. Sheet music available on my website: http://oregonpiper.com/blog/2016/2/17/game-of-thrones-theme-bagpipe-cover

[markmullaney]

https://soundcloud.com/oregonpiper/game-of-thrones-theme-bagpipe-cover-1

[markmullaney]

Oregon Piper on Tour in SW America

Why yes, it was my first time using photoshop, SO SUCK IT.

It's that time of year again! I'll be out of town for about the next month on tour so if you find yourself getting married or dying anytime soon please contact one of my bagpiping associates:

Dan Delmain | portlandbagpiper.com  

Travis Nelson | [email protected]

Specifically, I'll be gone from about 10/20 to 11/22 and I'll be headed to:

Las Crucas, NM

Farmington, NM

Socorro, NM

Alamogordo, NM

Santa Fe (<< let's open up a restaurant here!)

Midland, TX

Houston

San Antonio

Tyler, TX

Lafayette, TX

Irving, TX

Also by the time I get back Fallout 4 will be out so in all honesty I won't be available for life/leaving the apartment until about January 2016. Just kidding. But seriously. 

[markmullaney]

A thank you from afar...

Today something happened that has never happened before (which is rare in the world of bagpiping). I received a thank you note from an individual I'd never met, who heard me piping from a distance (because, ya' know...bagpipes) at a completely separate funeral service. Here's an excerpt:

"Dear Mark,

This is a heartfelt note of thanks from a Canadian of Scottish decent, thanking you for your beautiful bagpipe music which was a great comfort to me recently. At the time I couldn't see where the music was coming from so later I asked at the cemetery office and was given your name.

...when I came back for the internment, I was alone. It was a sad occasion without any associated ceremony or service and without other members of the family along as witness or support. As I was sitting on the steps by the columbarium after the internment wishing for some better way to have marked this final event of her life, I heard beautiful bagpipe music nearby...it seemed as if it was a tribute to my sister as a member of the Ronald clan, a sect of the MacDonnell clan of Keppoch.

I am glad to know that the art is alive and well in Portland through people such as you...thank you for your time on behalf of veterans and their loved ones.

Phyllis T."

I find it remarkably generous that she took the time to write a letter to someone she had never even met.  I've always known the bagpipe is loud and the sound carries over a great distance, but I usually assume those hearing it in the distance were annoyed by it, not enjoying it! Randomly enough I'm also a half Canadian of Scottish and Irish decent, so the note hit a little close to home. As someone who has witnessed many funerals over the years I actually see the situation of the one-person-funeral fairly often. A few times I've even played for zero-person-funerals, where it's just me and the funeral director paying our respects with no one else physically there to hear it. I think it shows great stoicism and commitment to be that sole family member present at the funeral, and good on Phyllis for being there.

[markmullaney]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwxvRTNAoKw) Five American actors went to France- none made it back alive... Once again I've spent a long time filming and editing something that is purely an inside joke! In truth our France tour couldn't have been more lighthearted, luxurious, and fun, so I thought it'd be a humdinger to see if I could cut the clips in a way to make them look like a trailer for a horror film. Music used: "Those We Don't Speak Of" - James Newton Howard "Semblance of Dualism" - Yoshihisa Hirano & Hideki Taniuchii

[markmullaney]

Oregon Piper to be featured performer at Oregon Piper’s Society

That’s right. I’m back from France, the sun’s out, and it’s piping season babyyy. If you’ve been asking yourself “What is my life MISSING!?” It’s probably hearing some fun, modern, and (most importantly) live piping! Either that or maybe you just haven’t seen Battlestar Galactica yet.

This Saturday

7pm

The Milwaukee Odd Fellows Hall | 10282 SE Main St. Milwaukee, OR 97222

$10

In addition, a professional piper by the name of Colin Gemmell will also be giving a solo performance. I also heard a rumor that I may be playing that one tune you guys seem to like so much. You know…the one that rhymes with “Dame of Phones”.

[markmullaney]

FROGZ Photo Blog | Venue #19 | Theatre Charles Dullin | Le Grand Quevilly, France

It was an excellent trip and an experience I'll never forget. We were incredibly lucky to be invited, and I was honored to be there.

I'm sad that tour is over, but thus is the nature of theatre: it is constructed, manifested, and performed, then it disappears. Afterwards it exists only in our memories.

Thanks to my cast mates, to all the people behind the scenes who made the tour possible, and thank you for joining me on this adventure. We don't know exactly what will come next, but there are rumors of a second France tour in December, 2015 (fingers crossed), so stay tuned. Till next tour!

[markmullaney]

FROGZ Photo Blog | Venue #18 | Theatre les Cordaliers | Romans, France

A cool building/town that seamlessly combined the remaining ancient portions of the original (castle) town into modern constuction.

[markmullaney]

FROGZ Photo Blog | Venue #17 | Theatre de Beauvasis | Beauvais, France

This theatre loved Frogz (and specifcally, the penguins). Of all the shows that perform there this season they chose ours for the front page of their season catalogue and the exterior of the building!

[markmullaney]

FROGZ Photo Blog | Venue #16 | Theatre des Sablons | Neuilly, France

A nearly brand new and state of the art theatre located in one of the fanciest districts of Paris! CAUTION: Boy band photo, top center.

[markmullaney]

FROGZ Photo Blog | Venue #WTF | Various locations, France Hey hey HEY! The Frogz are on tour in France and here are a few behind the scenes pics of life behind the mask! Please, for your entertainment, zoom in on our faces in the last pic.