Lorne MacDougall

Three times BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the year finalist and nominee for Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2012 Scots Trad Music Awards, Lorne MacDougall is one of Scotland’s leading young pipers. He was born and brought up in Carradale, in the piping stronghold of Kintyre.

On leaving school, Lorne studied for the BA Scottish Music – Piping at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, graduating with honors in 2005, one of the first graduates on the RSAMD’s piping course. He has played in Grade 1 pipe bands from an early age including leading bands like Scottish Power.

A versatile musician who plays Highland bagpipes, smallpipes, Border pipes and whistles, Lorne is in constant demand to perform for various concerts and recordings throughout the world.  He was the co-producer of all the Red Hot Chilli Pipers albums including “Bagrock to the Masses” which achieved a UK Gold disc with over 100,000 sales and the CDs have sold over 250,000 combined.

He recorded the pipe parts for a recent BBC Children in Need single and arranged and performed highland and border pipes for the 2012 Disney Pixar movie “Brave” under the leadership of Patrick Doyle, also performing on the red carpet at the European Premiere for the stars.  He also composed and recorded for a recent international VisitScotland advert.  He provided the pipes for Manran and Michelle McManus‘ STV Appeal single “Take You There” released in August. He appeared on BBC One’s hit primetime crime drama Shetland and has recorded pipes on Susan Boyle‘s upcoming album.

He has toured Scotland performing at many significant festivals including Lorient, Aviles, Celtic Connections, Mull of Kintyre, Jura, and Orkney Folk Festival, Shetland Folk Festival and the Cambridge Folk Festival.

He released his solo album, “Hello World” in 2010 and has formed a gigging band on the basis of it consisting of some of the most respected musicians in Scotland.

As a composer his tunes have featured on albums from such bands as Skerryvore, Deoch ‘n’ Dorus, Stuart Cassells, Inveraray and District Pipe Band, the House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and he composed and performed the theme music for Sky Sport’s SPL football coverage from the 2009 season to date.

He produces and presents an online piping podcast PlanetPipe and also has presented BBC Radio Scotland’s Celtic Zone many times.

He also performs with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and was a member of Bodega in 2011 until they split although now continuing to perform with the surviving members under the new name – “Howlaa”.