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- Interview of Graham Davidson, 1; 2
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Graham Davidson August 7, 2012; August 15, 2012. Born: Graham Stewart Davidson, June 1st 1957, in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland. 1 older sister named Sandra, who lives on Vancouver Island. Father: Alexander Blair Davidson, born 1919 in Bishopbriggs. Youngest of 3 (two older sisters, Margaret & Betty). Alex’s father (Graham’s grandfather)
Show moreGraham Davidson August 7, 2012; August 15, 2012. Born: Graham Stewart Davidson, June 1st 1957, in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland. 1 older sister named Sandra, who lives on Vancouver Island. Father: Alexander Blair Davidson, born 1919 in Bishopbriggs. Youngest of 3 (two older sisters, Margaret & Betty). Alex’s father (Graham’s grandfather) passed when he was 14. Mother: Kathleen Graham Stewart, born in 1923 in Bishopbriggs. Eldest of 2 daughters (younger sister Mirian, drowned at age 10). Maternal Grandfather: Samuel Graham Stewart, one of 8 brothers. A woodworker by trade; built a lot of the homes in Bishopbriggs, which still stand today. He owned a shop on Crowhill Rd, which Bob Hardy (famous bagpipe maker) took over upon his retirement in 1964. Samuel was the one who trained Bob in woodworking. Bob went to school with Kathleen and played at her wedding to Graham’s father. Nobody in his family spoke Gaelic. He has a few cousins in Scotland from his father’s side who he keeps in contact with. The family immigrated to Canada when he was 2 years old. His father came 6 months ahead of them, in 1959, and landed in Montreal. He took the train out to Vancouver, and was looking for 4 months. He had almost given up and was packing to leave when he got a call for a job at MacMillan-Bloedel. He worked as a draftsman, and later moved to H.A. Simons (pulp & paper mills), working as an estimator. He purchased a house in Lynn Valley, and the family followed him out to Canada, travelling by ship and rail. His parents owned a cabin up by Sechelt. Graham attended school in North Vancouver. The family moved and he attended Windsor School, where he graduated from High School. Graham first heard bagpipes in the Pacific National Exhibition parade in Vancouver – the pipe bands were the only part he watched as a child. This inspired him to pick up piping, and his first teacher was a man named Richard Drybrooke. Dave Russell, a drummer from the Seaforth Highlanders, started the White Hackle Pipe Band and in North Vancouver. Bruce Topp was another instructor to Graham, who introduced him to the BC Piper’s Association & Seaforth Highlanders Cadets. In the Cadets, he met a man named Ed Esson, who was his instructor for a long time. You had to be 11 to be a cadet, and Graham was only 9, but Ed insisted he be allowed in. Ed was the King’s Piper for a time; he was “a real Highland gentleman”, and Pipe Major of the Seaforth Highlanders for years. Nigel Alakija was another instructor of his, originally from Inverness. They encouraged his parents to take him to Highland Games around the west coast, and he would attend the Nelson School of Piping. Donald MacLeod was a regular at these games. Bill Sutherland, a war buddy of Donald and “Big Angus”, started the school in Nelson. Bob Hardy provided Graham’s first set of bagpipes to him with no invoice, but his father insisted on paying the full price. Without a doubt, Ed Esson was Graham’s largest influence. He was like a grandfather figure, and a really nice man. Graham was a small boy and Ed always looked out for him, helping him with technique. Graham played one year in the City of Port Moody Pipe Band, until he called Pipe Major Hal Senyk and asked to join the Triumph Street Pipe Band. They went to the World Championships in 1976; they had no money, so the team had mixed kilts, but matching shirts and vests. All the other teams were in full dress uniforms. They ended up 23rd out of 24th at the worlds, but then 2 weeks later, they finished 4th . The band returned to the Worlds in 1979 in Nottingham, and played very well. They placed 5th, and were Best Overseas Band; also received the Red Sash for Best Drum Corps. Willie McErlean was the Lead Tip at the time, and it was the first time a band outside Scotland had won a major prize. Graham was with the Triumph Street Band from 1975-1995. The band had undergone a lot of changes in the years prior. At that point he took over as Pipe Major for the Maple Ridge Pipe Band (Grade 3; later moved up to Grade 2). He chose to leave his position and shortly after, he played with City of Abbotsford Pipe Band for 1 year; Stuart MacNeil was the Pipe Major at that time. At this time in his life, Graham and his wife had one son, and were expecting twins. He left the Abbotsford Pipe Band to spend more time at home. At the same time, he had been teaching for the White Spot Pipe Band, and was approached to take over leadership, which he agreed to. With the White Spot Organization, Graham was responsible for advising parents, finding instructors, and designing the musical program. He is still with the band at the time of interview, and has seen upwards of 1000 kids go through in his time there. The White Spot Organization has piping, drumming, and Highland dancing programs for children. Graham’s experiences with Ed Esson as an instructor influences his standard for instructors today. They have been the BCPA Champions for 8 out of the 10 years prior to the time of interview. He decided to form a band called the Greighlan Crossing Pipe Band, the bulk membership of which are players who have graduated out of White Spot. The Greighlan Crossing logo is a double-headed dragon; because of this, they were invited to perform in Beijing, China in 2010, at the 12th Beijing International Cultural Tourism Festival. An organizer of the festival had stumbled across the Greighlan Crossing website, and fell in love with the band and its logo, as the dragon represents good luck in China. They did a 2 minute performance which was judged. The Band (and administrative staff) on this 10 day trip ranged from ages 14 – 62. The festival was all about bringing the world to China, in Graham’s impression. There was a wide variety of acts. The Band was able to go sight-seeing in their time there and were treated very well. They were voted the best act of the day. They also did a 5-6 block parade while in Beijing, on a road similar to Granville Street in Vancouver. The crowd went “absolutely nuts” for the Band. The Band also performed at a shopping mall and at the Bird’s Nest (Beijing National Stadium). A “bucket list” item of Grahams’ was to play bagpipes on the Great Wall of China, and the Band all did the same. Someone called the Military Police on them; their interpreter/guide explained their side of things, and the Police eventually left, saying “Don’t waste our time again!” to the caller. The Band has been requested to play the festival again in September 2012. Graham another solo piper who he is close with, Andy Wright. He says he has encountered a majority of wonderful, kind people in the bagpiping community, and he is sure if he turned up to a bagpiper’s house, he would have a place to stay. Graham’s first Annual Gathering of the BC Piper’s Association was held at the Vancouver Recreational Centre in Longsdale, around age 10 or 11. He marvels at how much the gathering has evolved. He didn’t win very often in his early years, but he continued to play due to his love of it. Ed Esson and Hal Senyk led his playing to “take off”; Ed was very technical and emphasized fingering, while Hal was a “sound guy”, focusing on the sound from tuning the pipes. Graham won the first professional competition he ever played, on the insistence of Hal. He even played Hal’s pipes, and Hal was a “bit perturbed”, as he’d “never heard them sound so good”. Most of the judges at the BCPA gatherings were from Scotland. This exposed him to phenomenal players of the day. The President of the BCPA in the 1980’s was Donald MacMillan, who suggested to bring out 2 piping judges from Scotland. Graham has been President from 2008-2012, as well as Chair for the Annual Gathering. Vancouver is a “hot spot” in North America for piping, and players are often eager to come out. The Annual Gathering lasts two days, and includes pro drumming events, a recital, solos, and a pipe band contest. One of Graham’s best years at the Annual Gathering was when Rob Matheson & Jim Kilpatrick were brought out after the release of their 2nd album, Ebb Tide. Nearly 500 people came out to see them play. Graham has noticed an expansion in the areas where people travel from to enter the competition. Graham doesn’t have any favourites to include in medleys, as you always have to keep it changing. He feels medleys have progressed from the 1970s; new tunes from new composers, involving syncopation and other inventive styles which are enjoyable to play. In years leading up to these interviews, the popularity of pipe bands, Celtic musicians and Highland dancing has seen an increase; Graham expects this trend to continue, as bands continue to add new instruments all the time, increasing their diversity and entertainment value. Graham has 3 children: One of his twin sons, Trevor, is a bagpiper; he wanted to play his father’s pipes from age 2 on. His favourite tune to play as a boy was “Scotland The Brave”; he played in Graham at the Couer d’Alene at the age of 3. He had to play with his hands reversed because he was so small. He moved very quickly through the ranks of the White Spot Pipe Band, and is now a Grade 1 competitor. Also Pipe Major of the Greighlan Crossing Pipe Band. Maclain is a drummer. He took up drumming as a boy and was happy to be included with his father and brother. He was the Grand Aggregate Winner for Grade 3 Drumming in 2012, and will be promoted to Grade 2. He also went through the White Spot Pipe Band, and is in the Drum Corps of Greighlan Crossing. Graham’s oldest son Chris was not interested in taking up Scottish music. He played guitar for a time. Working with children in his bagpiping career has been very satisfying for Graham. He discusses the recent winners of the World Championships. He has done extensive work with the BC Piper’s Association. He took on the task of organizing the newsletter for a time, in order to communicate with the membership. Since 1992, Graham has worked for the District of North Vancouver, managing supplies. The majority of the municipalities are part of a co-op which allows them to purchase supplies at a group rate. There are about 40 commodities which all municipalities use; Graham is responsible for the supply of one commodity – garbage bags – for all districts in the co-op. He approximates the co-op currently [in 2012] spends about one million dollars on this commodity. His employer and staff understand his involvement in bagpiping and respect that he needs time off to travel. Upon travelling to Scotland, Graham feels a sense of connection to his birthplace, although he considers Vancouver home. He finds Canadians are well received in Scotland, although people don’t understand how large the country is compared to the U.K. – he has the common experience of being asked if he knows someone from Toronto. He didn’t consider his “Scottishness”, until he became more involved in Burns Suppers in his mid-30’s, and began studying more Scottish history. He doesn’t think his sons have this connection to their heritage yet, but are more exposed to it than he was at their age. Graham hadn’t even tried haggis until age 25. His maternal grandfather was always blasting Scottish music on his record player, and read Robbie Burns poems, but these hobbies didn’t carry onto his parents. They wanted to try Scottish Country Dancing, but were unable to arrange it. Politics were not major issues in his family; he attended church as a child, but gradually stopped as he became older. They often had family gatherings with his cousins in North Vancouver growing up. He now sees his sister when he attends the Comox Highland Games on the Island. His favourite relative was his Uncle Jim (his mother’s cousin). He plays at about 4 or 5 Burns Dinners per year. He eats haggis at the dinners, and makes his dad’s shortbread recipe at home. He first tried a dram of scotch at 16. Wife: Sandra; met at a bar in Surrey named Champagne’s. That weekend, the Triumph Street Band was having a “Tacky Tourist Party”, which he invited her to. It turned out her best friend worked with Graham, and she encouraged Sandra to go to the party. She knew that being involved with bands was important to Graham, and he spent a lot of time practicing. When their twins decided to get involved, life became “simpler”, as he was able to take them along. They are coming up on 26 years of marriage in 2012. Growing up in the 1950’s, Graham was influenced by the Beatles, but is a lover of all music, especially soft jazz. He has travelled to Scotland several times in the past 10 years. Looking back on his life, he would change injuring his hand if he could. He worked at a sugar refinery in 1978, and injured his hand on an industrial oven fan. He had an accident 6 months prior to that where his hand was caught in wheels – his doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to pipe again after his work accident. It took him about 6 months to heal and become mobile again. He cannot play a “bubbly B”, but this is his only restriction in piping. He taught the Vancouver Ladies Pipe Band for 4-5 years prior to going to the Maple Ridge Pipe Band. His son Trevor has encouraged him to return to professional competitions, but he is not interested. Graham doesn’t have an opinion on the 2012 politics/referendum in Scotland, and has had a few minor conversations on it. He only wishes the people get what they want. Graham discusses the formation of Greighlan Crossing Pipe Band with Len Moreau, for players who graduated out of White Spot and didn’t move on to Grade 1 Bands. A group of Rotary Clubs called District 50/50 provided them with the funds to start up, along with minor fundraisers organized by Len & Graeme. The group wore mixed kilts – family tartans – and wore white shirts and black ties. The name of the band came from a combination of Graeme & Len’s name with a more Gaelic/Celtic spelling (originally Gralen). A parent of a band member developed the logo – two dragon heads in a Celtic knot. They developed a “legend” behind the name & logo.
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- 2012-08-07, 2012-08-15