Solo Competitions

All the competitions I've competed in for solos.
1997 Heather Belles Grade IV 2/4 March3rd place (played Achaney Glen, judged by ALAN BEVAN)
1997 MacAlester College Games Grade IV 2/4 March3rd place (long story, I thought I got 4th so I didn't go onto the finals in the round, and thence got last place [6th] for the 2 groups)
1997 MacAlester College Games Novice Piobaireachd4th place (played Lament for Mary MacLeod)
1997 Red River Exhibition Grade IV 2/4 March??? (4th I think, I beat the 6th place guy by about 5 points and lost the 3rd by 2.)
1997 Red River Exhibition Novice Piobaireachd2nd Place
1998 Heather Belles Grade III 2/4 March5th (played the Braes of Castle Grant)
1998 Heather Belles Grade III S/R5th (played Susan MacLeod and Major David Manson. I forgot the last bar of my reel, and finished and swore loudly as I got off the stage, also my bass drone was roaring the entire event, and T. Ogilvy writes 'DAT BASS BE A ROARIN'!)
1998 Heather Belles Jr. Piobaireachd4th (played the Glengarry's Lament
1998 MacAleter College Games Grade III MSR2nd place. (played Braes of Castle Grant, Susan MacLeod and The Man from Glengarry. I can't believe I got second, the guy that played before me was amazing and I beat him by 1.5 points!)
1998 MacAleter College Games Grade III HP/Jig4th place. (played Hiccup and The Glasgow city Police Pipers. The first time I ever got to play hornpipe/jig competition, and I did pretty well, I can't wait 'till next time)
1998 MacAleter College Games Grade III Piobaireachd6th place. (played The Lament for the Old Sword. I tied 3 ways for 6th, there was 2 for 5th, 2 for 4th and 1 for each of the medals. I knew I'd take a beating here, I hadn't practiced that much, 3 flubs would do that)
1998 Red River Exhibition Grade III 2/4 March??? Score of 72. (I played 'Braes' again for I. Evans
1998 Red River Exhibition Grade III S/R??? Score of 67. (I played the same one as in MacAlester -- Susan MacLeod and The Man from Glengarry. I was judged by H. Wiens)
1998 Red River Exhibition Jr. Piobaireachd4th place. (This I do know because I was one point behind my friend who placed 3rd. Played The Lament for the Old Sword for A. Gray!)
1999 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 MarchDidn't place... (maybe I should have practiced more... but then again I knew this tune inside out and I was judged by that bastard Ian Evans! I played The Highland Wedding)
1999 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/RDidn't place (played the Lachine Rapids and the Man from Glengarry, I shone in the reel, the strathspey was weird. That should teach me to pick the weird ones. Judged by DAVE HICKS)
1999 MacAlester College Games Grade III MSR5th (or 6th) place... (apparently out of 22 competitors that isn't too bad, but I was still upset. Again, I played Braes of Castle Grant/Susan MacLeod/The Man From Glengarry, judged by Mike Dietz[?])
2000 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 MarchNot sure... I got a 68 and 1st place got a 78, so I can't be that far off. (I played The Taking of Beaumont Hamel, judged by John Elliot. I was first to play at 8:30am!!!)
2000 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/R5th place. (Hector MacLean and Captain Lachlan MacPhail of Tiree, for Ian Whitelaw. I couldn't keep my drones going and just before I went up and tried to tune they stopped again. He allowed me another 5 minutes to go and fix it. That's really decent!)
2001 MacAlester College Games Grade III MSR7th (Braes of Castle Grant / Susan MacLeod / Alick C. MacGregor, for Tom Ogilvy, he said he really enjoyed my march. I was 3rd to play at 8:14am, that's too damn early!
2002 MacAlester College Games Grade III MSR3rd place. The judge was really nice and I had a good cheering section - Steve still beat me though - got first place. (Mrs. MacDonald of Glenuig / The Caledonian Canal / Alick C. MacGregor, for Marlene Stephen)
2002 MacAlester College Games Grade III HP/Jig7th place. This was the first time I've had a judge actually have a talk with me after the tune. (Hiccup / The Judge's Dilemna, for Gail Brown - got a nice picture of her looking like she was bored or something).
2003 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 MarchDid not place (below 6th). I kinda thought I was gonna win something here. But I always take a beating in Winnipeg. Oh, well. (I Played The Knightswood Ceilidh and was judged by Ian MacDonald)
2003 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/RDid not place (below 6th). I knew I wasn't good here. My rhythm for this strathspey was just... off. So I expected to not place. (I played the Ewe wi' the Crookit Horn & Captain Lachlan MacPhail, and was judged by Colin McWilliams).
2003 MacAlester College Games Grade III MSR4th place. There was a 1 point spread between the top 3 and then me... sheesh. If I only just fixed a few things... who knows? (I played Highland Wedding / The Caledonian Canal / Duntroon, and was judged by Marlene Stephen)
2003 MacAlester College Games Grade III HP/Jig4th place (again). Again, missed by 1 point. (I played Hiccup / The Judge's Dilemna, and was judged by Gail Brown)
2003 MooseJaw Games Grade III 2/4 MarchProbably like 8th... hard to say. I guess it's not bad when there's like 16+ competitors. (I played Highland Wedding, and was judged by ?)
2003 MooseJaw Games Grade III S/R7th. A kick in the egotistical nuts. (I played Caledonian Canal / Duntroon, and was judged by Jim MacGillivrary)
2003 Regina Games Grade III 2/4 Marchagain, unsure.. probably 8th again. God it was cold, I almost just said "no, I won't play in this cold!" (I played Highland Wedding, and was judged by ?)
2003 Regina Games Grade III S/Runsure, (was 2 points behind Steve, who placed 5th). Had one of the funniest comments on this sheet. "why DO we emphasize closed Cs? Hmm... It's been a long morning and I think my brain is frozen!" (Caledonian Canal / Duntroon, for Danielle Millar)
2003 Selkirk Games Grade III 2/4 March6th place. What really bugs me is that is was supposed to be a judge! She couldn't tell that I was playing a 6 parted march. She made only 1-4 part lines and didn't notice there was 2 more parts. Aggrevating. (Braes of Badenoch, for Leigh Ward)
2003 Selkirk Games Grade III S/R5th place. Meh... not much I can say here. I guess if I practiced I'd have done better. Luckily Steve & Karen sorta swept this event. Steve ended up with Grand Aggregate for the day. (Susan MacLeod and The Man From Glengarry, for John Walsh)
2003 Selkirk Games Grade III Quartet - Slow Air & 6/8First Place! It was pouring rain like crazy, and we got to play under this little pavillion with an aluminium roof and a concrete floor. We sounded like 12 pipers. Won $50 for it too. (David Adamson / Big Don MacDonald, for Colin Clancy(?))
2003 Winnipeg Beach Games Grade III 2/4 March??? I missed my 4th part, so I just continued on with the 5th & 6th. The judge didn't notice that I missed a part. (I played the Braes of Badenoch, and was judged by Ian Evans)
2003 Winnipeg Beach Games Grade III S/R3rd. Had the same judge yesterday who didn't like the 'odd setting' for the reel, and I started playing another tune, and stopped, but he let me go on. (Susan MacLeod / The Man From Glengarry for John Walsh)
2003 Winnipeg Beach Games Grade III Quartet2nd place. The other band replaced at least 2 people in the quartet, one of which was the JUDGE from the previous day. (Lord Lovat's Lament / Deputy Chief Wingate / Up to the Line / Big Don MacDonald, for John Walsh)
2004 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 March6th place. Maybe someday I'll get more spare time to practice. Also got a weird comment "piano error," whatever that means. (Colin Thompson for Bob Worrall)
2004 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/R3rd place. Cool... a medal! Not bad, this is the one I'm usually weakest at, and play first, so it's usually the worst of my events. But I did okay! thanks (Susan MacLeod / the Man from Glengarry for Ian Evans)
2004 Winnipeg Scottish Festival DUETdnp - It was a first for both of us, and it sounded fun and then we realized, it's not a 'grade' event. (Bride's Jig / Rocking the Baby / the Radar Racketeer / Devil in the Staircase for Colin Clansey - "strong finish until the lovely open D @ end :)" )
2005 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 March4th Place - I was much more confident about this one, but I think it's some sort of curse I have that I'll never make it out of Grade III. [I played Carradale Bay for Sean Somers]
2005 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/R4th Place. My bass wouldn't start and I had a shot reed, that was really flat. I played and the 3rd F in the tune the reed collapsed which judge then asked "what happened to your F there?" [Captain Colin Campbell / Duntroon for Ian Conn]
2006 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 March6th Place - The judge didn't like my tune. It's a march, WTF. So I lost place because I choose something he didn't think was good for competition? [Carradale Bay for Iain MacDonald]
2006 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/R5th Place. I think I played about the best I think I've ever played. Pete even said so. He didn't like the break I used between the tunes that Rory and I sorta came up with. [Captain Colin Campbell / Duntroon for Seam Somers
2007 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III 2/4 March11th - The march was a little light, but most because I was worried about marching with it. ALL IN ALL, it was the WORST competition I've ever played.- [Arthur Bignold of Lochrusque for Peter Snaddon]
2007 Winnipeg Scottish Festival Grade III S/R?? - My reed went for a shit the day of the competition (stupid prairie dryness). So my chanter sounded crap, and thin and it just kept spiralling me into a pretty bad ego spin, so it was just horrible. [Susan MacLeod / Man From Glengarry for Jake Watson]
2009 MooseJaw Highland Festival Grade II MSR4th – I don’t know what possessed me to want to go up a grade. Wasn’t exactly fond of the tune the judge picked. Not much in the comments all around. [Leaving Glen Urquhart / Caledonian Canal / Alick C. McGregor for Stewart Smith]
2009 MooseJaw Highland Festival Grade II HP/Jig1st – I swore very loudly when I saw that on the results. This was a great judge! He talked to me for a few minutes after playing, gave me some great pointers for the jig and how to do it even better. [Hiccup / Dale’s Chimichanga for Alex McIntyre]
2009 Regina Highland Games Grade II MSR5th – He really paused when I mentioned the tunes for his choice… “Hmmm… both really good tunes”. He came up with some amazing comments that I really appreciated. [Braes of Castle Grant / Caledonian Canal / Alick C. McGregor for James MacHattie]
2009 Regina Highland Games Grade II HP/Jigbreakdown - I played beautifully up until the repeat of the last part and couldn’t remember where I was so I stopped. And on the sheet he wrote down that I broke down at the end of the 2nd. [Hiccup and 87.5% of Dale’s Chimichanga for Stewart Smith]
2011 Online Piping Competition Grade II HP/Jig6th place - A neat opportunity to record myself for a submission - except you turn into someone with OCD and do about 60 recordings and eventually just send in 'whatever'.  It was really fun and the comments are good. [Hiccup / Dale's Chimichanga for Andrew Bonar]
2011 Online Piping Competition Grade II MSR?th place - Really chopped me on this one.  He picked out that my 7th bar phrase was wrong (I only added a doubling) and did NOT like my transition from the Strathspey to the Reel; he writes "some might say you didn't finish???"  Ouch.  [Braes of Castle Grant / Captain Colin Campbell / Alick C. MacGregor for Richard Hawke]
2011 Online Piping Competition Grade II Piobaireachd?th place - Oi... 12 years since my last piobaireachd competition and that was for like novice level - having to step up to grade 2 was challenging.  So was memorizing the tune - went back and forth on 2 different ones.  I play a mean ground variation, but plug me into the rest and it makes me tired.  Still enjoyed it.  The comments were pretty accurate, no surprises.  [Lament for Mary MacLeod for Peter Aumonier]