December 2003 - Jackie Blake

Age: 19
Instrument: Bagpipes
Make: Pre-WWI Lawries, Naill Chanter, Rockets
Grade: 2
Teacher: Donald Lindsay
Band: Oran Mor
Jackie was nominated by Andrew Adams

Jackie began playing bagpipes in January of 2000 while still in High School with instruction from Iain MacHarg.  She was one of the initial competition members in the Catamount Pipe Band (grade 5) in the summer of 2001.   After the season was over and a very good year in Grade 4 solos, she got upgraded to Grade 3.  She began getting instruction from Donald Lindsay and going to many different piping schools throughout the year, including a trip to PEI to study for two weeks at the College of Piping.  She has had additional instruction from Willie McCallum, Jack Lee, Alan Bevan, Stuart Liddell, Bruce Gandy, Adrian Melvin, Norman Gillies, Jim McGillivray, and Paula Glendinning.  She also started working with the Grade 2 Oran Mor Pipe Band in Troy NY, and she left Catamount to pursue her piping goals with Oran Mor.  In 2002, after a sucessful season in Grade 3 solos, she was again upgraded to Grade 2.  She also plays fiddle and has recently started learning snare drumming..

Want to nominate a teen to be the featured teen of the month?
Click here to email me for details!