| aughintober, northern ireland

So folks - the votes have been cast and counted, and it seems that the majority of visitors to ths website would like to see the band practice in Tamlaght! lol Stiff competition was presented by Portadown, but this was quickly beatten off by the fantom Tamlaght voters.

Aparently we made quite a stir in the village with our practice, and you never know, after this vote we may be back to have another go! lol

In band talk - it's back to pipes this week :-( Need to go stock up on red bull!

O, and HELLO MELVIN (if you read this).

Last night marked the end of the band's 'Practice Tour' of Northern Ireland. Our final date was in the metropotilin city of Tamlaght. It has been a very interesting 2 weeks with the band also making visits to Portadown and Rathfriland, and even receiveing a visit from young 'Joe' a new member to the band (See pic above) who arrives dilligently on time every Thursday on his Tractor (but is late on mondays because of comething called B&B....).

So after lots of travel (and tea), band will once again be going home to Aughintober, and BOY are we all excited!

P.S. those eagle eyes of you will notice the guestbook has been taken down. This is for no other reason than I was sick of deleting adverts for dodgy quarz watches. I promise it'll go back up at the start of the season!

Horse out.

To fully get ready for the season, over the next two weeks we will be taking band practice on tour, to a town near you! If anyone can guess where we are, please post in the guestbook, and the winner will get an excellent free prize!*

*prize may not actually exist.

A very big welcome to 2010, and to the 'Business End' of the off-season! As people go back to school/college/work/wherever after the 'big freeze' the band is back to work polishing off the tunes we'll be playing this season! Hard to belive it's this time of year again, but the band's grabbing it with both hands!

Everyone from Team APB would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!

We'll see you all in the field!

Aughintober Pipe Band presents....from behind the Curtain!

That's right folks, the first tune of Aughintober's 'I <3 Pipe Bands' Concert was boldy played from behind the Curtain! As Jason and Ryan marched up the hall at the start of the concert playing 'Aughintober Pipe Band's 60th Anniversary', little were they, or we to know that a malfunctioning curtain would provide a litte comic relief to a otherwise serious concert. Undeterred, the members left behind the curtain, and the two lads in front played on, until a step-ladder was found to finally, 'un-vale' the band!

After this, the only thing left to do, was to knock over a mic stand, leaving the audience wondering, what would happen next?! Thankfully, the answer was a well enjoyed concert!

Aughintober, along with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, Mr. Kevin Rogers (SLOT), Mr. Patrick Martin, and Compere Mr. David Scott performed for Fields of life, and believe me, if I find the start on youtube, it'll be posted!

The band had the honour of playing at 'The Bawn' Brass Band's 60th Anniversary Concert on Friday Night Past (20th November 2009, for those of you reading his 40 years from now....), and o what an adventure it was! Billed to  play at 9.00pm, we were asked to wait 15 minutes....and 15 minutes later the band took the stage at 10.25!

Even with the short wait, the band members played well, and even had the honour of playing with 'The Bawn', something members will remember for a long time!

We'd also like to say a big THANKS to.....I think his name was Chris, from Augheran, who came to listen to the band tuning up and ended up holding the tuner and a mace while we played - couldn't have done it without you big lad!

Ok, so with this new blog thing, we're going try and do more regular updates, as it's supposed to be much easier....so we'll see how it goes!

Right now the band are trying (hard) to brush up for a run of concerts happening in the next month, culmaniting in the 'BIG YUN' in Rathfriland, where we're headlining....could be interesting! lol Therefore i'm forced to spend the week learning a very complicated tune, which has lots of parts and is spread over 3 pages...i'll not tell you what it is, because it'll ruin the surprise! So far it's a little diddle for me and Ryan, but we'll see who else is brave enough! lol

Of course, after our night at the races, we've started to put together a 2010 calander (an actual calander). If you're feeling the need to sponsor the band, it's £40, your advert will go on the Calander, AND you'll get a mention on our website! drop a line to ashleyhassin@gmail.com for more information...

Anyway, what's all for this update!

60 years in the making. 12 years in competition. Over 100 players through it's ranks.  Over  Over 55 Prizes including 7 World Titles, 3 British Titles, 2 Scottish Titles, 6 Ulster Titles, 4 All Ireland Titles and  Champion of Champions twice. All this, and much, much more gives me the great honour of announcing that Aughintober Pipe Band will be upgraded and competing in Grade 2 next season!

When asked about the upgrade, Pipe Major Glenn Ferry stated

"This is a brilliant achievement for a wee country band like Aughintober. There have been some tough times over the years, and many thought we'd never get this far, but here we are, and the entire band is looking forward to the challenge."

Leading Tip Chris Johnson continued in a similar vein, stating that

"This is a monumental achievement for everyone in the band. I'm looking forward to the challenges of leading a Drum Corps in the rigors of Grade 2 Competition."

This comes on the back of a very successful weekend for the band, firstly the long anticipated 'Night at the Races', and secondly band members Gail, Ben and Ashley representing the band in the 'Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland', playing in "The Crossing" at The Helix Theatre  in Dublin and The Waterfront hall in Belfast. Both events were a huge success!

It is also with great sadness we must report the stepping down of Aughintober Chairperson Brian Murray. Brian felt he could no longer fulfill this role to the best of his ability, but would continue to support the band as much as possible. Therefore, we are delighted to announce that long time band-member, Ex-Drum Sergeant and recent supporter Noel Ferry will be fulfilling the Chairman's Role. This year's Committee is as follows:

Chairman - Noel Ferry

Deputy Chair - Trevor Burrows

Secretary - Carol Murray

Treasurer - Melvin Ferry

Pipe Major - Glenn Ferry

Drum Sergeant - Chris Johnson

LIVE THE DREAM.

Location: Stangmore, Dungannon

Time: 7.00am (in the morning)

It was with tired eyes that the trio of Jason (Driver), Ryan (Sleeper) and Ashely (Sat-Nav Operator) set off in the mighty Audi for the destination of Dublin to play in the All Ireland Drumming Solo's, to meet up with fellow piper Gail, and competitors Ben, Andy & Chris. After an hour and a half (give or take) of travelling, and a brief re-fueling stop (people, not vehicles), everyone arrived safely in Bally-something. (it's exact name escapes me).

Weeks of preperation had gone into the day, and once on station, all the players were raring to go. After the intake of tea everyone got into practicing, with Ben's qualification run coming quicker than everyone had thought. With 2 qualification runs done (Ben & Andy in Junior Drumming), the long wait had begun for the restults. Unfortunately Ben only just missed qualifying, coming 8th in his grade, but after a brilliant performance, andy made it through!

The second run through was not as simple, though. With Andy and Chris playing close together, it was a sprint to get Ryan from Chris' Room to Andy's Room, tune his pipes to Jason's and get them into play with Andy, but something that was done with Ryan's usual flair.

At the end of the day, Andy got 9th place, with Chris Coming 5th, and a brilliant day had by all! (AND me not getting murdered by my Girlfriend for not picking her up from work on time!).