Friday Five On Saturday

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
St. Finbarr's Pipe Band when it toured the west coast of the U.S. about 15 or 20 years ago. (Well, what did you think I was going to answer?)

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
It would have been the Victoria Police PB if the cretins who run the City of Victoria hadn't shut them down. Now, it's probably Field Marshal Montgomery Memorial PB. Or maybe Maple Ridge PB. I heard them last year at Pleasanton, I think. They have a beautiful sound, rich drones, and an excellent choice of tunes, well-arranged and well-played.

3. What's your favorite song?
Depends upon mood, circumstances, and a host of imponderables. Right now I'm particularly enjoying a very simple 6/8 called The 10th H.L.I. Crossing the Rhine. And I never tire of Allegri's Miserere. But sometimes it's one of the jazz tunes my mother used to play. And Ann Gray's Señor Celtic y El Grupo.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
What a joy to say that I already play the Highland bagpipe. Someday the uillean pipes, I think. When my ship comes in.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
That's another "it depends" question. At the moment, Donald Shaw Ramsay. A fine musician and composer and by all accounts an excellent teacher.