Palm Beach County

PALM BEACH COUNTY BAND OF THE WEEK OCTOBER 15-22 2007

The whole idea of having a site dedicated solely to Fire Pipes and Drums was born somewhere in the clear blue skies of Colorado.  My friend Tom and I were returning from the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial when he looked at me and said “Hey, you should do a site that only features Pipes and Drums.”  My eyes still foggy from the previous two nights I said “sure” and quickly asked for more aspirin and the biggest bottle of water the Flight Attendant could scrounge….. such is the history of the FirePiper website, sorry to disappoint there was no skies opening up with divine light glaring upon my keyboard.  Born of too many car-bombs, Guinness, and shots of whatever, here we are.

 I decided the other day to add a section called “Band of the Week” to showcase many of the bands we in the fire service are blessed to listen to and even a few of us can actually participate in, that bring celebration and a sense of tradition upon any event, memorial or party that you hear the drones wail, the bass thunder and the familiar staccato of a snare. 

This weeks band PALM BEACH COUNTY located in sunny FLA.

              

 I had the pleasure of talking with Ferg for more than an hour this morning he like so many guys I have met through the years love to talk about Pipes and fire fighting, I had a great conversation with him and its obvious from our conversation PBC loves them some pipes and drums. 

Official Department Site           

Myspace Site               

 Local 2928 Pipes and Drums Site

Hooligan:  Whats your name and what do you play?
Ferg: Ferg and I am a piper
H: How long has the band been around?
F: Since 2001
H: You are one of the founding members, how did the band start?
F: At the time there was not any all Fire bands and we wanted to start one so it went from there where we had one piper that would play with the Honor Guard and it built from there.
H: How long have you been playing?
F: Since 2000
H: What made you pick the pipes?
F: I am from Scottish Descent and I just wanted to learn them.
H: How many members do you have in the band?
F: 7
H:Do you take people with no playing experience?
F: We do but typically they take lessons from a civilian band
H: Whats the Pre-Gig drink of choice?
F: Jameson’s
H: Other than Amazing Grace what is your most requested piece?
F: Rakes of Mallow
H: Do you allow civilians in the band or is it strictly PBC people?
F: Strictly PBC
H: PBI Gold is an amazing Tartan, how did that happen?
F: One of our guys sweet talked a PBI rep into donating enough material for 6 kilts and we had a local kilt maker make them for us complete with reflective stripes, matching flashes, and name tags across the back we introduced them to the world them at an FDIC Fools party.

H: Ok, Whats your real Tartan?
F: Modern Red Macpherson

H: Do some of your band do double duty with other bands?
F: Yes
H: How many events do you do a year as a band?
F: Probably 50 to 60 per year Station openings, Retirements, Graduations, and a lot of other public events. The County Commisoner requests us to play at some events as well.
H: So you guys do a lot of very public events eh?
F: Yes, we play a lot of public events
H: Do you guys have any crazy band traditions?
F: No, not really nothing like those guys from Seattle, did you see the video of the kilting where the guy pulled a bird out from under his kilt?
H: Yeah, I saw it
F: No we dont have anything like that.
H: What is the best response for when some asks “What are you wearing under your kilt?”
F: My favorite is “Good girls ask, Bad girls find out”
H: My favorite is “Your Mothers Lipstick”
H: Do you guys pay for everything out of your own pockets or do you hold fundraisers?
F: The Department pays for the uniform and will pay for some of our travel in certain circumstances but we do sell t-shirts and hats and we have a boot out when we are playing in bars and such.

(This led to a small discussion on how I came to be in posession of a PBCFR Pipes and Drum hat in Colorado. We still have not figured out how my scally cap came up missing and in its place a PBC hat took residence on my head. If anyone has seen my scally or if I traded you a scally for the PBC hat please get with me I really loved that scally)

H: How can the readers support your band?
F: Buy hats, shirts or patches we may have to work on getting up for sale on the website.
H: Do you have a favorite event you guys like to play
F: FDIC

H: Whats the biggest crowd you have played in front of?
F: Our Annual Awards Dinner
H: Is there a band out there you guys love to hang with and play with?
F: Band of Brothers, Indiana
H: How does the Chief feel about the band?
F: He is real supportive, thinks the band is a real asset and feels like it brings real “Espirit De Corps” to the department.

H: Who do you pick for next weeks Band of the Week?
F: Seattle

I would like thank Ferg for taking the time to answer all of my questions and I would also like to give Chief Brice a thumbs up for his support of this band.