DOWNEAST BAGPIPER
Kara McCrimmon
Washington County, Maine
ABOUT DOWNEAST BAGPIPER
A lifelong musician and performer, Kara started as a bagpipe student in 1998 with P/M Fred Lewis, then pipe major of the Glen Erin Pipe Band of Lansing, MI. Her inspiration to learn came from a children's storybook, "The Magic Bagpipe." The story features a young piper named Donald MacCrimmon who wins a pipe competition and becomes Piper to the Chief. This was Kara's first hint that MacCrimmons have a long history with the pipes. As a young adult, Kara wanted to participate in that lineage and live into her Scottish heritage.
Before moving to Maine in 2004, Kara played in the Glen Erin Pipe Band, and was a founding member of the Muskegon Regional Police Pipes and Drums (Muskegon, MI). Since 2004, Kara has piped for weddings, memorial services, celebrations, and graduation ceremonies throughout Washington County. She also offers beginning instruction in bagpipes. A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, most of Kara's performing happens as part of the traditional trio O'McCrelli, where she sings and plays Irish whistle, accordion, guitar, or with the Pink Capos, a female duet featuring tight vocal harmonies set to acoustic guitars. Kara also is a member of the Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra.
