PLAYING WHEN HE WAS 10.
KAREN MEYERS CATCHES UP WITH THIS MUSICIAN.
KAREN: THE FIRST TIME ELLIOTT SMITH HEARD THE BAGPIPES, HE WAS
TRANSFIXED.
>> MY PARENTS BASICALLY SAID I HUNG MY HEAD OUT THE WINDOW ALL
NIGHT LONG LISTENING TO BAGPIPES.
KAREN: NOW 30, ELLIOT IS AN AWARD-WINNING PIPER WHO’S PLAYED
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THE BOY FROM CONCORD PERFORMED WITH THE LEGENDARY IRISH BAND,
THE CHIEFTAINS.
>> IT WAS NERVE-WRACKING, BUT IT WAS A BLAST.
THOSE GUYS ARE WORLD CLASS MUSICIANS WHO’VE BEEN AROUND FOR
DECADES.
IT WAS REALLY COOL TO PLAY A COUPLE OF SETS WITH THEM.
KAREN: HE’S TOURED WITH THE AMERICAN ROGUES, A WORLD FAMOUS
CELTIC ROCK BAND.
AND JAMMED ON STAGE IN NEW YORK CITY WITH KEVIN MCKIDD, A STAR
FROM ABC’S HIT "GREY’S ANATOMY." >> HE JUMPED UP ON STAGE. SUPER
SUPER GREAT GUY.
VERY HUMBLE.
AND CERTAINLY A TALENTED MUSICIAN, GUITAR PLAYER, AND
VOCALIST.
KAREN: ELLIOT CREDITS HIS TEACHERS FOR ALL OF HIS
UNFORGETTABLE OPPORTUNITIES.
A STUDENT OF RENOWNED PIPERS LEZLIE AND GORDON WEBSTER AT AGE
10.
>> I WAS VERY LUCKY AND FORTUNATE.
BAGPIPES ARE NOT AN INSTRUMENT THAT ARE EASILY SELF-TAUGHT LIKE
THE GUITAR.
SO HAVING REALLY PHENONMENAL INSTRUCTION EARLY ON FROM LEZLIE
AND GORDON WAS KEY AND EXPOSED ME TO A VERY HIGH CALIBER OF
PLAYING.
KAREN: GORDON WEBSTER WAS THE FORMER PERSONAL PIPER FOR QUEEN
ELIZABETH.
HE TOOK ELLIOT TO ENGLAND TO MEET THE QUEEN’S CURRENT PIPER.
>> HE GAVE US THE BEHIND SCENES TOUR OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE AND
BROUGHT US TO ALL THESE WONDERFUL PLACES THAT MOST
PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO.
AND GOT TO MEET SOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST PIPERS AT THAT
POINT OVER IN GLASGOW.
THAT REALLY SOLIDIFIED MY PASSION FOR THE MUSIC.
KAREN: ELLIOT WENT ON TO COMPETE AT HIGHLAND GAMES THROUGHOUT THE
U.S. AND IN SCOTLAND, WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE OLYMPICS FOR
BAGPIPERS.
RISING THROUGH THE RANKS TO BECOME ONE OF THE TOP AMATEUR
PLAYERS.
>> MUSIC IS JUST PATTERNS OF PULSES THAT ARE REPEATED, SO I
HAD A KNACK FOR MEMORIZING AND REPLICATING MUSICAL PATTERNS.
KAREN: HE HAD TO UP HIS GAME FOR EACH LEVEL OF COMPETITION.
>> SO YOU HAVE TO NOT ONLY KNOW THOSE 12 OR 18 TUNES, BUT YOU
HAVE TO BE ABLE TO MIX OR MATCH THEM IN ANY ORDER.
IT BECOMES A MENTAL EXERCISE.
SO YOU HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT IN ORDER TO PROGRESS.
KAREN: YOU ALSO HAVE TO MANAGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
AS A WOOD INSTRUMENT, WEATHER CAN IMPACT PLAY.
>> THEY’RE BASICALLY A LIVING ORGANISM WITH ALL THE WOOD. SO
IF YOU MOVED FROM SUN TO SHADE, IF YOUR CHANGE ALTITUDE OR
PRESSURE, IF A WIND PICKS UP, IF YOU MOVE FROM, YOU KNOW, GRASS
THAT’S RETAINING SOME HUMIDITY TO PAVEMENT, IT’LL CHANGE THE
SOUND AND THE TUNING OF THE INSTRUMENTS. 13:12>
-- INSTRUMENTS.
KAREN: OUTSIDE OF COMPETITIONS, YOU MOST OFTEN HEAR BAGPIPES AT
WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS.
HISTORY SHOWS THE IRISH AND THE SCOTS BOTH ADOPTED THE BAGPIPES
IN THEIR CULTURE CENTURIES AGO.
>> THEY WERE USED FOR EVERYTHING LIKE FROM A FUNERAL OR A
CELEBRATION OR A CALL TO WAR OR CALLING A CHIEFTAIN HOME.
THERE ARE LAMENTS WRITTEN, CELEBRATIONS WRITTEN, YOU NAME
IT.
KAREN: ELLIOT’S PARENTS MAY HAVE HAD A PREMONITION OF HIS MUSICAL
PATH, DRESSING HIM UP WITH A COUPLE OF FRIENDS FOR HALLOWEEN
LONG BEFORE HE EVER PICKED UP THE PIPES.
CAN YOU PICK ELLIOT OUT?
20 YEARS LATER, THE TRIO RECREATED THE PHOTO.
♪ IT WASN’T UNTIL ELLIOT STARTED
PLAYING THE BAGPIPES THAT HE DISCOVERED HE IS A 10T
GENERATION SCOT, WEARING THE KILT PROUDLY.
>> IT’S IMPORTANT TO KIND OF, I THINK, HONOR WHERE WE CAME FROM
AND THE ORIGINATION OF THAT STORY.
KILTS HAVE BEEN USED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS OVER IN THE
SCOTTISH COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY FAMILIES.
KAREN: SHOWING OFF HIS SCOTTISH SENSE OF HUMOR, ELLIOT
VOLUNTEERED HIS TALENTS FOR THE UPCOMING SEE SCIENCE CENTER’S
CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT.
THE RAFFLE WINNER CAN ASSIGN HIM TO PLAY THE BAGPIPES ANYWHERE ON
THE GOLF COURSE, EVEN TO TAUNT OPPOSING PLAYERS AS THEY TRY TO
SINK A PUTT.
>> I THINK I’D PROBABLY TRY TO MAKE SURE MY BAGPIPE WAS OUT OF
TUNE FOR ONE, BECAUSE LIKE A WELL TUNED BAGPIPE FOR ME IS
PLEASANT TO LISTEN TO, AND AN OUT OF TUNE BAGPIPE IS LIKE
LISTENING TO A SCREAMING CAT.
KAREN: ELLIOT STUDIED MUSIC PERFORMANCE AND FINANCE IN
COLLEGE, SO NOW, BY DAY, HE WORKS AS A LOAN OFFICER, AND HIS
FREE TIME HE SPENDS COMPETING AND PLAYING AT THE PROFESSIONAL
LEVE HE’S ALSO PASSING ON HIS PASSION
FOR BAGPIPING TO THE NEXT GENERATION, TEACHING AT NH SCOT,
A NON-PROFIT THAT RUNS THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HIGHLAND GAMES.
>> FOR ME, ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT PLAYING WAS I WAS
EXPOSED AT A VERY YOUNG AGE TO A LOT OF DIFFERENT CULTURES. HAD
-- CULTURES.
I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL.
YOU’LL BE PLAYING IN A PIPE BAND AND YOU’LL BE STANDING NEXT TO
SOMEONE WHO’S AN ACCOMPLISHED ATTORNEY OR DOCTOR OR SOMEONE
WHO’S A SCHOOL JANITOR.