Jonathan Graham, Piper – Career Highlights:
– 1st class Hons Degree in Scottish Music from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
– performed at Commonwealth Games Ceremonies (Delhi 2010 & Glasgow 2014) to televised audience of 2.5 billion
– member of the world-famous Red Hot Chilli Pipers
– piped for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Holiness Dalai Lama & MMA Superstar Conor McGregor!
– played alongside celebrities such as Lewis Capaldi, Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle, Amy MacDonald, The Proclaimers, Deacon Blue, Amir Khan, Peter Andre, Ross King, Chris Pine and has received praise from Simon Cowell & Donald Trump!
– 20+ years piping experience
– plays traditional & contemporary music
What a cool memory from 5 years ago today. Amazing gig. 🥰 ‘I performed with the Ayallah for H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, visit to the Expo 2020 Dubai site with other Royals and Foreign Ministers. They chanted & danced while I played along. 🎶’…
Cool gig recently! I was asked to learn a few Lewis Capaldi songs on the pipes, which was to welcome guests at the Netflix premiere of his documentary ‘How I’m Feeling Now’. Click the link to hear me playing ‘Someone You Loved’ at the event in Glasgow. https://www.tiktok.com/@jgpiperforhire/video/7214122919494962438?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7337378575081899552
Thank you to all the Brides & Grooms I have had the pleasure of piping for this year! Here are a few of them 🙂
What a trip! First time in Dubai – wow! I performed with the Ayallah for H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, visit to the Expo 2020 Dubai site with other Royals and Foreign Ministers. They chanted & danced while I played along 🎶 Great fun! 😀
A recent wedding at Mar Hall. Thanks to Claire & Martyn for sending these on and congratulations again. #wedding #bagpipes #bagpiper #piper #bagpiperforhire #piperforhire #hireapiper #piperforwedding #weddingpiper #weddingbagpiper #scotland #scottish #music
I’ve been super busy piping at weddings all over the country these past few months. From April to September I’ve been playing the pipes at couples’ ‘big day’s pretty much every Saturday & Sunday – good times! Lots of happy Brides & Grooms 😀
Last month I was 1 of 30 performers who were in Shanghai for a street festival. It was my first trip to China and really enjoyed it. The gig lasted for a week and, being the only Scot, that was plenty of the hot & humid weather for me! The Chinese seemed to appreciate the…
2 Hogmanay gigs to bring in the bells of 2018! First was in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, a gig i’ve done for the past few years. Family favourites like Amazing Grace / Highland Cathedral / Scotland the Brave are very common tunes for me to play, but with the…
Sometimes I turn up to a gig not knowing much about it. This time I had a location & time, that was it. The people I ended up piping for were the cast of new Robert the Bruce movie ‘Outlaw King’! I played as they all arrived and then piped the haggis in for their…
AN EVENING WITH CONOR MCGREGOR IN GLASGOW!!! I piped ‘The Notorious’ on stage with his walk-in tune Foggy Dew. I’m a big fan of Conor, so this was an honour and a great experience. I may even be playing at another of these special nights in 2018… we’ll have to wait and see but i’ve heard from…
The photo on the left is me with the STV Charity Kids Appeal mascot! The event was hosted by Lorraine Kelly @ STV Studios and raised £2.6mil for young people in poverty in Scotland The next one is at the Peace & Unity conference attended by Sturgeon and the Corbyn at the City Chambers, and on…
Thank you to Peter Wills Photography for sending me these photos. Taken at a wedding we both worked at in June, at the Lynnhurst Hotel in Johnstone. I especially like the one with the bride & groom – caught off-guard! #bagpiper #wedding #hireapiper #scotland
It was great to play for a school pal’s wedding this weekend, congrats Brogan! The ceremony was in the epic Glasgow Uni Chapel and then onto the newly-opened Boclair House Hotel. The previous weekend I piped at Kilchurn Castle for 2 American couple’s marriage vow renewals. I had never been to this venue before and hadn’t…
Watch me introduce some big NFL dudes to the bagpipes and show them how to play a few notes on the chanter! Happy Birthday @89SteveSmith 🎉 Take a 👀 at the time he learned to play the bagpipes with @Danny_Shelton55 in Scotland! 😂 pic.twitter.com/Z2Q1Hyh7Sp — NFL UK (@NFLUK) May 12, 2017
A couple of pictures from a wedding I piped at this weekend in Castlecary House. Congratulations Jennifer & Graham! 🙂 #bagpipes #bagpiper #piper #bagpiperforhire #piperforhire #hireapiper#wedding #weddingpiper #weddingbagpiper #scotland #scottish#music
I was teaching a couple of NFL dudes, Steve Smith & Danny Shelton, how to play bagpipes in Edinburgh recently! They were here as part of the NFLUK tour and at the time were also getting fitted for kilts in Geoffrey Tailor Kiltmakers on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. One of the lads had size 16 feet…
Happy Tartan Day! #TartanDay #Scotland #bagpipes I’ve travelled to New York twice (2005 & 2010) to perform for Tartan Week, now Scotland Week – both fantastic experiences!! #ScotWeek
Thanks to Zack Ahmed / Zaphotography for this one, taken in the DoubleTree Hilton at Edinburgh Airport.
New business cards 👀👌🏻Thanks to Lee from Quality Designs for the cards, Ozzy for the logo, and Stacey & Bryan at Picturesque, by Mr and Mrs M. for the photo
The lovely @jgrahampiper playing during the #wedding of James and Rodney who came all the way from #Australia to get married at #Cromlix. pic.twitter.com/CQ820PEnv8 — Cromlix (@CromlixHotel) March 1, 2017
Hello! Busy busy here updating things – new website & new business cards, keeping things fresh. Big shout out to an old pal Lee from Quality Designs who’s doing both. He is doing a great job AND putting up with all my messages 😛 The cards aren’t ready yet, but check out this proof of the…
Video taken 11th Feb by lovely reception staff as wedding guests go upstairs to the ceremony 🙂
It’s been a while since I updated the site due to a broken laptop but we’re back now! The past few months have been busy, considering it’s Winter, when gigs are always harder to come by… I played a short tour of the US East Coast in November with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers which…
Another musical venture of mine – Dhol & Pipes – has been inundated with enquiries after a wee Facebook video went viral!! The short clip (40 seconds) was taken on a phone outside the Hilton Grosvenor, Glasgow while we were warming up before the Groom’s arrival. TAKING BOOKINGS FOR 2016/2017 NOW 🙂
This was an interesting gig! I flew down to ITV studios in London to perform alongside SuBo. Paul O’Grady also had Amir Khan on the show.
Thought a wee update was required! Since I last posted I’ve been playing the pipes at weddings, Burns’ Suppers, funerals and doing the usual bagpipe lessons during the week, with a couple of new students thrown in! Burns’ day this year was on a Monday so I had a few gigs the day before, the…
I had a couple of gigs for the bells. The first one was with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. I joined them at the end of their New Year show for the last 5 songs, which included Highland Cathedral, Scotland the Brave & Auld Lang Syne. It went well…
I recently started piping with the world-famous Red Hot Chilli Pipers! It was an honour to be asked and i have been enjoying learning the material, meeting the guys and playing gigs. My first gig was with the wee band (corporate version of the Chillis) and this was for the Davis Cup at Emirates Arena,…
Check out our new logo for Dhol & Pipes! Badass in my humble opinion 😛 #dholandpipes #dhol #bagpipes #fusion pic.twitter.com/j5WoseCnUV — Jonny Graham (@jgrahampiper) September 3, 2015 “>
Lots and lots of bagpipes! That’s what best describes how my time’s been spent recently 🙂 Wouldn’t have it any other way either. I’ve been all over the place piping at functions, weddings, funerals and birthday parties. The musical-fusion group I play with Dhol & Pipes has been extremely busy too with last weekend spent…
Was playing a gig at Trump Turnberry yesterday with the The Bagrockers and got some praise from the owner of the establishment #bagpipes #trump
Can’t believe it was a year ago already! A year ago I was standing next to Amy MacDonald & Rod Stewart performing at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony in Hampden! Times flies when you play the pipes. Posted by Jonathan Graham – Piper for hire & lessons on Thursday, 23 July 2015
Since my last post I’ve been playing my bagpipes at many different events – always good to be busy! Most recently was a wedding on 27th June @ Lodge on Loch Lomond, which is in a great location and right next to the wee town of Luss. Scotland’s skies cleared and it was a cracking…
Had a blast piping in Istanbul! Was over to promote Johnnie Walker and made some gid pals 🙂 may be going back in a few weeks…. #whisky #bagpipes #worsttrafficontheplanet Posted by Jonathan Graham – Piper for hire & lessons on Friday, 29 May 2015
Next week’s gig, we’ll be headlining on the night of the 6th, see you there….. Posted by Bags Of Rock on Thursday, 28 May 2015 check out http://www.livewireevent.com
It’s been a busy time recently with lots of piping! I have been providing bagpipe music at weddings all over Scotland the past few weeks. The Summer is finally here which means my weekends are filled 😀 Last Saturday I played a gig with my band Bags of Rock in the Classic Grand, Glasgow. It…
I piped at a same-sex marriage yesterday at House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Check me out with the Brides 😀 Off to play at another Glasgow wedding today, but this time at St Andrews in the Square. I better get the bagpipes and kilt sorted!
I enjoyed teaching for a week in Germany at the Brüggen Winter School last month. This was the 3rd year I had taught here and it was great see some old faces, as well as meet some new ones. Here’s the group photo from 2015: You’ll see this is the 9th Winter School so I’m…
I played a gig with Bags of Rock last weekend in the Fruitmarket, Glasgow. It was for a talent show that raised money for charity and we performed before and after the awards ceremony. One of the judges was Peter Andre! We had a chat backstage and he commented on how much he enjoyed our…
I’ve just been asked back to teach at the Winter School for Pipers and Drummers, Brüggen, Germany, 8th – 15th March 2015 Looking forward to seeing everyone again and working with the other tutors, who are: Chris Armstrong – The National Piping Centre Glasgow David Johnston, CEO – Pipers Corner Shop and Musical Director Crossed…
Kind words from Maureen Reith, who recently booked me to play at her daughter’s wedding
Did a photoshoot with the band yesterday in Coatbridge so expect to see some new photos soon. Here’s to another week of teaching bagpipes and gigs 🙂
It’s been a busy time recently. Busy is good! I was a way a couple of weeks ago in Poland with Bags of Rock. We played the Zamek Festival, which is in Krakow. The polish crowd of around 5000 loved our performance and showed great appreciation. We ended up at a bar after the gig…
It was great to play at the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony last Wednesday night. I’m pictured above playing on the main stage alongside Amy MacDonald. After our performance we welcomed Rod Stewart who continued with his song ‘Rhythm of my Heart’. It was a great experience piping to 40,000 people on Celtic Park and a…
Had a great run of gigs last week. Now for a few quiet weeks – that’s the way it goes! Here’s a photo from a wedding I played in Kirkintilloch last weekend 🙂 If you need a piper for a wedding, funeral (any occasion) geez a shout!
It’s great to be back in Glasgow after a hectic month. Piping and teaching in France & Germany was great and I really enjoyed talking to journalists in Hamburg about Scotland and our piping culture
I’m currently preparing for 3 weeks of hardcore piping! Next week I’m off to Brittany (northwestern France) to play with a Bagad band. A Bagad is the Breton equivalent to our pipe band. I’m looking forward to guesting and performing with them in Brest at the National Championship. I’m driving across with 2 piping pals…
Check this out! 🙂 Click the video to hear me reminisce about piping in Dehli. It’s great to be involved in the build up.
So I was out in Glasgow in the freezing cold for 8am this morning – the earliest i’ve been out and about in a while. This was to record for BBC radio and TV as it’s 6 months today until the 2014 Games’ Opening Ceremony in Glasgow. Today is also the day the applications open…
Look out for my mug on BBC tomorrow morning talking about the Commonwealth Games! I was sent a better clip of me playing with Susan Boyle on the Paul O’Grady show recently, take a look
I played the Oran Mor with my band last week and it was a cracker! Really enjoyed the performance and the crowd were great 🙂 Here’s an action shot…
I hope everyone is having a good festive period, I know I am! I played with Bags of Rock last night in Stirling for the Hogmanay celebrations. The gig was great and the crowd were really responsive. The band we were supporting, Deacon Blue, played a nice set too and after that we all brought…
Jonathan Graham offered his piping services free of charge for those involved in the Clutha Disaster, Glasgow. A recent article in the Herald mentions this and includes a statement from Jonathan. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/prince-charles-to-meet-clutha-emergency-services-workers.22877124
New version of ‘Caledonia’ – just been released. I’m playing the old bagpipe a wee bit on it!
Here’s a photo of myself and all competitors from the BB piping comp at the weekend. http://www.collegeofpiping.org/2013/12/bb-contest-winners/
enjoyed judging the Glasgow Boys Brigade Piping Competition today. Glad to see the numbers back to a good strength 😀 hand is aching from writing all those crit sheets – haven’t written that much since higher english!!
Check it out! Me playing with Susan Boyle on the Paul O’Grady show a few days ago 🙂
Off to London tomorrow to record the bagpipes with Susan Boyle for her new song ‘Little Drummer Boy’ 🙂 should be fun. This is for the Paul O’Grady show and i believe Stephanie Beacham & Amir Khan will also be there as guests!
Here’s an amazing drawing from Bags of Rock’s Italian fanpage!! Thanks 🙂 jx
It’s always nice to see a wee lad being enthusiastic about his piping 🙂 Went round to a new student’s house in the West End of Glasgow last night and gave him his first lesson. It went well and the whole family were lovely. We’re going to continue with weekly lessons – looking forward to…
Spotted myself on television yesterday playing the pipes. It was footage taken years ago for an auction show called ‘Flog It’. This particular episode was in Glasgow and they were speaking to a well-know historian, Hugh Cheape, about old bagpipes and their history. You could see myself and 2 other pipers playing on the steps…
I teach at Edinburgh University at the School of Scottish Studies every week. This is how I would look if they didn’t do their piping homework!
I was piping at a wedding very close to home at the weekend, only 1 minutes walk from my front door actually! Here’s a pre-wedding photo 🙂
I played at a funeral on the 10th of this month for a friend of a friend. The family sent me this lovely thank you note – so nice of them. j
click here to see more pics from our gig on 27th September 2013
Oh it’s been a busy time for me. So many piping jobs! Wouldn’t have it any other way. Last weekend I played the Motherwell Beer Festival with Bags of Rock. The band went down a storm and we got the crowd bouncing. I sampled a wee ginger-flavoured beer after it too which was nae bad…
Just back from Italy! Was playing Bustofolk Festival (near Milan) with Bags of Rock. We played twice: once late on Friday night and again the next afternoon. The band went down a storm and we definitely gained a few fans! 😀 I’m also just back teaching weekly at Edinburgh University. This is a 10-week course…
I’m looking forward to performing ‘Highland Cathedral’ with the BBC Symphony Orchestra tonight for Proms In The Park 2013. There will be some big names there including Mel C (former Spice Girl) and Alfie Boe (English Tenor). The event takes places in Glasgow Green from 7:30-10pm. For more info click here
Here’s some handycam footage from a gig we played at the Montelago Celtic Festival, Italy, a few weeks back. Check out the crowd!!!!! The first track is called ‘Jigonometry’ and was written by our good selves, the second is a well-known one, ‘Whiskey in the Jar’. Enjoy…
Found this video on the internet of Glasgow’s performance. Who’s the piper at the start??! 😉
The New Glasgow 2014 Tartan was launched at the end of last year and I was one of the first to have a kilt made – the second in fact!! This was taken at the Glasgow Science Centre before a high profile dinner. This was the second official piping job of the day I had…
Just found this article on the Glasgow 2014 website from Oct 2012. It’s about the Dehli Handover Ceremony one year on. I talk about how it felt and how it feels now!
LIKE my Facebook page for more regular updates click here (ps. I don’t talk about what i had for breakfast or what colour of socks i’m wearing)
So I’m off to Italy to perform with Bags of Rock on Friday. We’re playing the Montelago Celtic Festival (www.montelagocelticfestival.it) on Saturday night and can’t wait! I’m then leaving the band after we play to fly to France to compete in the McCrimmon Trophy. This is an annual invitational solo piping competition where each piper…
Craig and I had a meeting at Glasgow 2014 HQ today. Looks like we’re definitely going to involved as the official pipers for the games! Our first duty will be to perform at the General Assembly next month. Here’s a pic of us in the boardroom beside ourselves…
Thought this was cool! Can’t wait for the games to come to Glasgow. This footage they used of me was from 2010 when I played in Dehli for the Handover Ceremony. I have a meeting tomorrow at Glasgow 2014 HQ to discuss my involvement in the upcoming games. Very excited to part of it 😀
So last week I was away with my band Bags of Rock (www.bagsofrock.com) in Nuremberg playing the Klupfel Open Air Festival. The cities of Glasgow and Nuremberg have been twinned since 1985 and this particular cultural exchange was organised by Sunny Govan radio. Our 45 min performance went well and we got a great response…
Hi everyone and welcome to my new website. I’ll be posting regular updates about my piping life and giving you information on bagpipe lessons and hiring a bagpiper. Check out ‘About Me’ section for more info on me and look at ‘Testimonials’ to read what others have said about my piping services. You can inquire…
Jonny piped at my wedding a few weeks ago & was amazing! He is excellent & a lovely person – can’t recommend him enough.
Jonathan played at our wedding on 21 June this year. He is very good at communicating and pointing you in the right direction regarding the music. He arrived promptly he was very smartly turned out and all in all was very professional. Our guests were most impressed with his playing. We would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Jonathan to play at whatever occasion you require a piper for. Jonathan certainly helped to make our special day even more special. Thank you Jonathan
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I am lost for words. Jonny made the saddest of days into an unforgettable and beautiful day. Today, I scattered the ashes of my Mum, her beloved dog Harry and my eldest brother. Jonny was the epitome of both professionalism and talent. He piped beautifully and made today what my Mum would have loved. I cannot recommend him enough. If you’re looking for a piper, look no further.
I arranged for Jonathan to play the pipes at my son’s wedding on 17th September 2016. He arrived with plenty of time to welcome guests with his music. He knew exactly where to be and when for the ceremony, and the entrance for the wedding meal. His playing was superb and he was immaculately dressed. Jonathan was happy to pose for photos too and was very courteous to us and our guests. Highly recommend Jonathan as part of your special occasion.
Jonny’s credentials as a master bagpiper are impressive enough, but actually hearing it was incredible! His skill in playing the instrument, his arrangement of songs, even his look and demeanor gave us a soundtrack for one of the most memorable days of my life. From the first song that helped announce the start of the ceremony to the last note as he prepared to leave for the night, we were in an absolute movie the whole time!
