foreign players in bands

stormy wrote:There are some G1 pipers who chop and change bands for nothing more than the chance of winning glory. I don't believe they have the best interests of any particular band at heart. They are bringing the PB world into the realms of football.

Playing for 1 month (August)......glory seekers.
Play with the band (any band) all year or not at all.

Couldn't agree more. My own thoughts entirely.

Redneck wrote:

Gordy88 wrote:
Grade 1 is becoming very cosmopolitan, Half of FMM are now in Scotland and have separate practises, seems to work well for them.

cheers

Hope da friars tuck yer not try to make a comparison here m8, the only thing in common is yer PM............. ..... ( that's wat ya get fer sayin' am old. )

, Nah, no comparisons mate,

Any more cheek like that and I'll not play with you on the 12th

Oul Hand

Oooooooooooops we canne have that then.......a take it all back
Bring yer hipflask ( full no empty )

stormy wrote: Playing for 1 month (August)......glory seekers.
Play with the band (any band) all year or not at all.

Got to agree wi ya 100% on that Stormy. Some are indeed looking to up their personal C.V's........on the other side of the coin, the experience and knowledge gained by playing with such a band ( not just fer a season ) over a period of time must have a knock on effect when / if they go back home to their choice of bands.

This IMO will only benefit the piping world as a whole ( depending on the individuals capabilities ), but I do agree m8, very few now are like my father and others like yourself.......life long members / long term members.

My father was boy 'n man wi the RAMS, like myself, until sadly they folded. ( ad still a been there ) and yes, there are a lot of glory hunters.

Robbie.Crow wrote:With the amount of foreign players today, there isnt one grade one band (i think) that doesnt have Foreign Players.
Do you agree with this? Or do you thinkthat it should go back to the old days, wehre if you played with shotts, then you lived in that area. If you played with boghall, you stayed in that area etc...
my feeling is that with the amount of foreign players playing in bands now adays, that bands are loosing their identity.

AlCal, I guess with the exception of our PM. He just moved to the States. Being he lived in both Calgary and Edmonton for most of his years I still consider him a local.

Robbie, What would bands gain from stopping players from other area's/Countries playing in their band? Lets face it, if these guys are willing to make practices and pay their own way (which most of them do) then what is the problem? I dont live near Boghall or Bathgate for that matter... Does this mean I should not be allowed to play with Boghall? I cant think of any other band i'd rather be in to be honest so, should I just not play? Take up curling perhaps?

At the end of the day its up to the player and the P/M or L/D of the band, and thats exactly how it should be. The "old days" are exactly that, old and out dated.

orange_wings wrote:At the end of the day its up to the player and the P/M or L/D of the band, and thats exactly how it should be. The "old days" are exactly that, old and out dated.

Redneck wrote:.....very few now are like my father and others like yourself.......life long members / long term members.

I suppose then I'm old and outdated!!! I'll admit to that - BUT - if I was a PM I'd be looking for commitment to the band.
Wanting / willing to play for a few weeks with a band (particularly in August) shows commitment to your own personal gains (whatever they may be) but NOT to the band.

The reason I do not play with any band today is because I do not feel that I can give the full commitment needed.
The last thing I would ask any PM would be "Can I play with the band, but only in August".

I'm sorry, but as far as I'm concerned the "old days" must return in this respect.

Stormy, We have no overseas members or any members in that respect who only want to play in August or for the competition season. All members of our band are 100% committed and whenever are asked to appear for a practice they are there unless something serious stops them. We have had a winter practice schedule for the overseas guys who have made everyone even paying over 200 euros for a flight. If that's not committed then I don't know what is.

Good on 'em Fiona, but ad say there are as many who are only interested in " Oh look who I play for "
Peter has a valid point too, I choose to play for Drumlough. We may or may not improve on last season ( I hope we do ) but irrespective of that I'll still be there for my last season.

There again, I could jump ship 'n do a bita glory hunting......doubt it though.
The main point here is commitment, nothing wrong in wanting to improve yourself in a higher graded band, but band hoping is a pet hate of mine.

Credit to Fiona and Peter taking on the challenge. There's one thing for sure.........no one can't call them committed to the Boghall cause.
This is what Stormy and I are talking about.

I can see what Stormy is on about and in that respect I would agree with him, those glory hunters who play in "selected" Comps would not get anywhere near a band I was connected with.
BUT I have total and utter admiration for people like Peter and Fiona who worked hard to get into their band, they attend two practices a week during the Winter at £20.00 a time for travelling, and in the Season this can be 3 or even 4 nights a week. They support the band when it has commitments such as the Rugby? once again costing them travelling etc.
Fiona in particular freely gives of her time to encourage and tutor the youngsters of the band, and often spends hours in her own time working on various things for the betterment of the Band.
NOW in my minds eye, THAT is Commitment to a Band, and if people like them are prepared to get to every practice where practical, then they should be welcomed, However those that you mention who pick and choose, or come over for say the Month of August, turf em out.

As regards the glory hunters thing,

I agree to a certain extent, and the reason is quite simple.

Some people can not give a full winter and summer, due to work, family, or geographical commitments.

One of the guys that hopefully will be with us won the worlds with Viccy police., With respect to my own band, we are playing for third in NI, due to Slot and FMM, and although are aiming to be a top 6 band at majors, we realistically might sneak into 6th in one of them.

That, I'm afraid shoots the glory hunter tag to bits. Thats a guy doing a bit for a band.

In an ideal world, You should be able to give a full winter, but the practicalities must win out,

And by the same token, Stormy will not play as he feels its unfair not to give a full winter, Very fair and unselfish attitude, but the truth of the matter is that any PM in grade 2 - 4b would be very glad to have him, (and if it was known he was available, he would get well pestered), even once a week, and some grade 1 bands too.

The bands that do not need to improve their playing members are few and far between.

cheers

Well as a PM of a grade 4b baund - i am going through this with the drum corps - they are ex G2 drumers and feel that G4b is below them !!! never turn up for practice nights - never turn up for fundraising events to pay for buses to take them to the Majors that they ONLY want to play at.

The Noose is Tightening and the Rope is shortening as far as ime concerned -

I have the Greatest of respect for Peter and Fiona they have targeted the band they wanted to play in and are obviously enjoying it as they- as has been said- spend a crap load of Time and Money to get there - it doesnt matter if the band is in your area as long as you commit to it -

We had a Good piper over from Alabama as a one of gig at the worlds - if he had not played the band would still have done just as well (or badly lol) but it was good to have a diff face in the corps for a major - it was more a favour to him than a need for us nd it worked very well .

so i am really with John on this - travel however far you need to but you have to commit to the Baund ......

Piping Connections wrote:

so i am really with John on this - travel however far you need to but you have to commit to the Baund ......

Well said big yin.

wee_fee-Fee wrote:Stormy, We have no overseas members or any members in that respect who only want to play in August or for the competition season. All members of our band are 100% committed and whenever are asked to appear for a practice they are there unless something serious stops them. We have had a winter practice schedule for the overseas guys who have made everyone even paying over 200 euros for a flight. If that's not committed then I don't know what is.

Please. I wasn't having a "dig" at yourself or your band.

Gordy88 wrote:.........Stormy will not play as he feels its unfair not to give a full winter, Very fair and unselfish attitude, but the truth of the matter is that any PM in grade 2 - 4b would be very glad to have him, (and if it was known he was available, he would get well pestered), even once a week, and some grade 1 bands too.

Cheers Gordy but you obviously haven't heard me play recently!!

If I really wanted to I could put 4 - 5 hours practice in every day, get the fingers moving again, get the pipes well set up and learn some new tunes.
I did that for 13 years. It was great at the time but I couldn't go back to that level of commitment.

Even lower grade bands need a huge amount of commitment from the players and I'm not able / willing (whatever) to give that. Maybe I should motivate myself and become more positive.

Apologies. Double post.

stormy wrote:

orange_wings wrote:At the end of the day its up to the player and the P/M or L/D of the band, and thats exactly how it should be. The "old days" are exactly that, old and out dated.

Redneck wrote:.....very few now are like my father and others like yourself.......life long members / long term members.

I suppose then I'm old and outdated!!! I'll admit to that - BUT - if I was a PM I'd be looking for commitment to the band.
Wanting / willing to play for a few weeks with a band (particularly in August) shows commitment to your own personal gains (whatever they may be) but NOT to the band.

The reason I do not play with any band today is because I do not feel that I can give the full commitment needed.
The last thing I would ask any PM would be "Can I play with the band, but only in August".

I'm sorry, but as far as I'm concerned the "old days" must return in this respect.

I agree with you regarding commitment, I dare say no piper / drummer would get a sniff at our band if they were not fully commited to makeing as many practices and competitions as possible. And as a playing member, it would seriously p*$$ me off if I had worked hard through the winter and some part timer walked in and got a game.

The point I am making is regarding Robbie's post about the "old days" where if you lived in Shotts you play with Shotts and so on, that to me, is utter nonsence. You play and commit youself to which ever band you aspire to be a part of and if that means traveling half way round the world to play with the Ozzy Highlanders then so be it, like I said, Its up to the indivdual player and the PM or LD of the band you want to be in.

Make no mistake about it, if you want to be a sucess at any level you have to be commited to the cause of the whole band and not just yourself, sooner or later the "glory hunters" will get caught out.

stormy wrote:

wee_fee-Fee wrote:Stormy, We have no overseas members or any members in that respect who only want to play in August or for the competition season. All members of our band are 100% committed and whenever are asked to appear for a practice they are there unless something serious stops them. We have had a winter practice schedule for the overseas guys who have made everyone even paying over 200 euros for a flight. If that's not committed then I don't know what is.

Please. I wasn't having a "dig" at yourself or your band.

Sorry John wasn't having a go at you either. I was just pointing out like peter said I don't think anyone would get a game with us if they weren't 100% committed to the band.

Correct Fiona, 'n that's how it should be with any band irrespective of whether or not the piper / drummer classes themselves a pre madonna, I'd much rather have 10 good solid players ( attendance ) than a super star ( in their eyes ) flitting in 'n out when it suits 'em.

Couldn't see you nor Peter moving anywhere else TBH, 'n that's my whole point......commitment and wanting to be there for the band.