Ryan's Story...

Ryan's initial attraction to the Great Highland Bagpipes began during high school when he took a keen interest in British and Irish literature. This interest soon developed into a fascination with the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Ryan learned from his parents about his own Celtic ancestry, tracing his lineage back to Scotland on his mother's side and Ireland on his father's.

Having studied music from a young age, Ryan's interest soon turned to traditional Celtic folk music. While attending his first Scottish Games, he witnessed for the first time the "massed bands", an event in which all pipe bands march onto the field en masse. This was the moment that Ryan realized his calling to learn the bagpipes.

Ryan began taking lessons from John Richardson and he soon joined his first pipe band: Heritage Pipes & Drums. In 1995, he and his teacher John attended the North American Academy of Piping in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. The following week he took 3rd place in his first solo competition at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

After two years with Heritage Pipes & Drums, Ryan continued his piping tutelage with the Birmingham Society of Piping under the leadership of Pipe Major Jamie Hamilton. They formed a Grade 4 competition band and competed at regional events in Alabama and Georgia. After a year with the band Ryan was promoted to Pipe Sergeant. In the meantime, he enjoyed a great deal of success at solo competitions, placing regularly in the top tier at the Grade 4 and Grade 3 levels.

In 2000, Ryan returned to Heritage Pipes & Drums as their Pipe Major. During his first few years as the band's leader, HPD performed five headlining shows at Birmingham's three-day downtown music festival City Stages and became the official Pipe Band of the Birmingham Saint Patrick's Day Parade. The band also attended competitions throughout the Southeast, taking 2nd place in Grade 5 Quick March Medley competition at Kentucky's Glasgow Highland Games in 2004.

That following year, Ryan embarked on a quest to become Alabama's only fully Professional Ceremonial Bagpiper. Devoting all his time and effort to his business, Ryan has since established a reputation as Birmingham's Bagpiper. He has performed at countless events throughout the city, the state, and the entire Southeast, from weddings to funerals to parades to birthday parties. He has performed at numerous events for VIPs and dignitaries and has even performed as an opening act for Rod Stewart. His notoriety has grown all through the region, and he is considered by many to be Alabama's premier bagpiper and the go-to guy for all piping needs and concerns.

Now a professional piper, in 2008 Ryan reorganized Heritage Pipes & Drums and renamed them the Ian Sturrock Memorial Pipe Band to honor the first piper in the state of Alabama. Ryan now plays the original set of bagpipes once owned and played by Ian.

In February 2009, the Ian Sturrock Memorial Pipe Band had the great honor of performing on stage with titans of traditional Celtic music The Chieftains on their Celtic Connections Tour. The band performed two different pieces with The Chieftains, and Ryan was asked on stage to perform a solo during their finale.

In 2010, now in partnership with GUINNESS and with the continued support of the band's sponsors the Saint Andrews Society of the Middle South and the Caledonian Society of Alabama, Ryan has developed ISMPB into an award-winning competition band. Making their debut at the Highland Games, the band the band took 1st place contests in Tennessee and Kentucky. Ryan's goal is to take the band to Scotland to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow in 2013, making ISMPB the first pipe band in Alabama history to attend this event.

When he is not directing his band or performing at solo engagements, Ryan is a professional instructor for the bagpipes. He has trained many of the pipers in and around Central Alabama since the late 1990s and he is currently he is composing his own book tutor for the Great Highland Bagpipes.

Ryan is also an avid composer of original music for the bagpipes. His compositions have garnered praise from several well-known pipers, such as Adrian Melvin, Bruce Gandy, and Jori Chisholm. A few of is compositions and arrangements can be heard on the 2009 debut album of the Duncan McCall Pipe Band and on his YouTube page. He plans to eventually publish a book of his music.

Today, Ryan dedicates all of his available time to his profession, performing all over his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama and throughout state and the Southeast. Among his ordinary piping activities, he is a regular featured performer with local Irish pub band Jasper Coal. He also serves on the board of managers for the Saint Andrews Society of the Middle South and serves as the society's Pipe Major, performing all of the piping duties required by the society. He is a board member of the Caledonian Society of Alabama and is central to the planning and organization of the society's annual Burns Night Suppers and Saint Andrews Banquets. Ryan also plays the Scottish smallpipes and organizes a very successful monthly traditional Celtic music session at a local pub, bringing in Celtic musicians throughout the region to participate. Ryan also competes at events on the West Coast with the Grade 3 Bushmills Irish Pipers of San Francisco, whose ranks he joined in 2006.

Ryan lives in Reobuck with Sherry, his wife of fifteen years, their three cats Binky, Gypsy, and Rowan, and their Jack Russell Terrier Maggie.

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