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BOUNTIFUL — After performing since 2004, the largest established pipe band in Utah has released its first album.
Bountiful resident David Hovey said he is one of the founders of the Wasatch & District Pipe Band and helped organize the group in 2004. Hovey began playing percussion in a marching band during junior high and became interested in drumming for a pipe band after his neighbors introduced him to it in 1984.
Hovey and several other musicians left another pipe band to form their own group, and since then, the Wasatch & District Pipe Band has grown to 67 members, forming three sections. One of the band’s sections was recently ranked a grade two, the second highest level for competing pipe bands, Hovey said.
The group is still growing and evolving and welcomes new members, with or without prior experience. Hovey said many of the pipers in the band teach private bagpipe lessons and they welcome anyone who has an interest in bagpiping or drumming.
“We kind of collect people from a lot of different areas,” Hovey said. “Something about our group is that there is no age limit or term limit. People can join up and play as long as they want… Our youngest member might be 10 and we have members up into their 60s.”
Although only about half of the band members are of Scottish ancestry, Hovey said the Wasatch & District Pipe Band wear the MacTavish tartan when they perform “because we like the bright red.”
“Personally, I don’t have Scottish ancestry, but watching my neighbors through the years, I just got interested in it. It looked fun,” Hovey said. “Since I joined it, I’ve stayed with it for quite a long time and it’s in my blood now. I love it.”
The band has performed and competed all over the Western U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, including the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland in 2011. The band has also performed several times with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
After recording over a two-year span, the band released its first album in November. Hovey said recording the album was a feat with trying to coordinate the schedules for the entire group and finding a big enough record studio. The whole band recorded several songs at the Utah State University recording auditorium in September 2013.
The Wasatch & District Pipe Band will have their next performance during part of the “Celtic Celebration” on March 14 at Peery’s Egyptian Theater. The band also performs each summer in the Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point.
