Portland Metro Pipe Band – Band Member Profile
Name: Julie Piper FinleyPiper or Drummer? Wordsmith, Wardrobe Mistress, Travel Hostess, Burns Supper Maven
When did you begin playing pipes or drums? Started playing pipes in my early 30s, laid them down one day 15 years later and that was that.
Provide some info about your piping/drumming background, musical influences, and other bands you’ve played with: Studied with Rob Barrick for years. Played for a couple of years with a band that no longer exists. Spent one summer as the roving piper at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches where Japanese tourists would pose their children next to me while I was playing, as if I was a character at Disneyland, and then take photos.
High point(s) of your band and/or solo career, including awards or trips: First trip to the Worlds in 1999 when I spent the summer in Scotland with my kids. I managed to get a spot right at the front of the Grade I circle, where I stood for four solid hours in the pouring rain while the kids terrorized the vendors in the sweets tent. Hearing the Bagad Brieg play at the 2001 Worlds – again in the pouring rain. Watching my kids march out to compete at the Worlds – awesome!
Funniest band moment: The look on Mark Tomasetti’s face when I told him, "I might have just a little problem getting alcoholic beverages for the Burns Night Supper."
Misc. facts about you: My maiden name really is Piper. My sons, both of whom play with the PMPB Drum Corps, are brilliant drummers because no self–respecting kid wants to play the same instrument his mother plays. I’ve knit countless sweaters while watching – and waiting – for my boys to compete at highland games over the past 12 years.