Jim McPhail
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His Piping life began in 1974, when as a 13-year-old in Elgin, Scotland, he teamed up with a retired Queens Own Highlanders piper. Pipe Major Anderson, Queens Own Highlanders mentored him until he was 16, which is when he started working, chasing girls and fell out of piping for many years.
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He moved to Palm Desert, CA, USA in 2003 and in 2006 after many years of putting it off, decided to pick up the pipes again. With great uncertainty that he would find any pipers in the Coachella Valley he inquired with the Scottish Society in Palm Springs and was directed to Rob Heggie. Turns out both lived 10 minutes from each other and from that moment a solid piping bond was formed. From their early auspicious piping jams, it seems a mighty Highland Piping Tradition was born in the Coachella Valley that lasts to this day.
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In 2008 he moved to Canada where he joined the K Division of the RCMP Pipe Band in 2009 and was with them for 6 years. In 2016 he moved back to Aberdeen Scotland where he joined the Gordon Highlanders Pipe Band in 2018 and was with them for 18 months. Although far from the Coachella Valley Jim remains a member in good standing of the Palm Springs Air Museum Pipe Band.