Native Scotsman's business serves local bagpipers
"Scotland the Brave" may not be a commonly recognized song title in America, but anyone who's listened to bagpipe bands probably knows the tune.
It's one of the most commonly requested pieces, said Dave Johnston, a professional bagpiper and owner of Chicalba Bagpiping Services in Glen Ellyn.
The Glasgow-born Scotsman is the real deal, the genuine article. He started learning to play bagpipes at age 9, and performed with a world championship band before moving to the Chicago area in 2005.
His wife, Jessica, whom he met on a trip to the U.S. a few years earlier, is from the Western suburbs. Johnston may have left Scotland to live in his wife's country, but he brought his bagpipes with him.
"It's my piece of home that comes with me everywhere," he said.
In Scotland, he left his profession as a civil engineer to join two friends in forming a bagpiping service. He duplicated that business model in the United States by starting Chicalba, a combination of the names Chicago and "Alba," a Gaelic word for Scotland.
With two other full-time bagpipers and scores of other pipers who work with him part-time, he supplies bagpipers for weddings, funerals, corporate events and, of course, Memorial Day services.
"May is pretty much Memorial month," he said.
Memorial Day morning will find him in Chicago doing a service with the Chicago Fire Department Pipes & Drums, a pipe band he works with as a volunteer instructor. The day before, he'll be doing a solo performance at a service in the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Chapel.
Johnston also serves as an instructor to the Pipes & Drums of the Chicago Police Department, which will be performing on Memorial Day in Romeoville. The Firefighters Highland Guard of Naperville, the third band with which Johnston works, will participate in Memorial Day services locally.
John Adair, the pipe major of the Highland Guard and a recently retired Naperville firefighter/paramedic, said Johnston is well liked by the band's 40 members. They include police and firefighters from surrounding suburbs with all levels of piping experience, from beginners to advanced. Johnston has worked with the group for three years on an every-other-week basis, Adair said.
"He brought us together as a band (to) being able to play at a much better level," Adair said. "He's definitely a great asset to the band."
Beyond Celtic shoresJohnston said bagpipes are often played at fire and police memorials because many Irish and Scots joined fire and police departments when they immigrated to the U.S. and brought the bagpipe tradition with them."God bless America" is one of the mostly frequently requested numbers, along with "Amazing Grace," he said. The Irish, of course, want "Danny Boy" and "The Wearing of the Green.""A lot of the interest comes from the Irish, rather than Scottish," Johnston said, "especially in the Chicago community."While the Scottish community is not as well-known in Chicago, it comes together for the Illinois Saint Andrew Society's annual Scottish Festival Highland Games, held in June on Oak Brook's polo grounds.But the popularity of bagpipes has spread far beyond their ethnic roots, Johnston said. He attributes the interest to better communication about major bagpiping events and the use of bagpipes in more genres of music."They've been made more hip," he said. "Since the late 1980s, early 1990s, there has been a huge increase in popularity."Johnston teaches and performs bagpipes year-round, but the work has its seasons, he said. From the end of April to the end of October, it's weddings. More funerals take place in the extremes of winter and summer. Corporate events tend to be scheduled in spring, early summer and fall.Along with the three bagpipe bands he instructs, Johnston gives private lessons to individuals. To encourage more interest in bagpipes among the young, he gives presentations at schools for free or at nominal charge."Everything I do I find fulfilling," he said. "Probably the thing I enjoy most is teaching young kids." Johnston himself started learning bagpipes in Scotland's Boys Brigade, an organization similar to the Boy Scouts. He had tried the violin, guitar, piano and drums, but decided they didn't suit him.Playing with the Boys Brigade led to joining the Williamwood Pipe Band in Glasgow, which won the World Pipe Band Championships in their grade in 2002 and 2003. In his late teens and 20s, Johnston's bagpiping took him throughout the British Islands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, France, Turkey and the United States. "That was a big appeal, starting to see the world," he said.Now married with an infant daughter in a country that is much more spread out than Europe, Johnston performs mostly in the Chicago region. "What I do in the Chicago area is great. I enjoy that," he said, admitting, "I probably miss a little bit of the traveling."He doesn't mind sitting in Chicago-area traffic, up to a point, Johnston said. He finds the United States more work-oriented than Europe and his teaching keeps his busy.Mastering bagpipesPlaying bagpipes is not for everyone. The instrument is heavy and the learning process is long."It's a lot of commitment, time-wise, and eventually moneywise as well," Johnston said. "Playing stuff recognizably is going to take a year to 18 months."Unlike other musicians, bagpipers must memorize their music, Johnston said. They learn the music on a chanter, a lighter and quieter instrument that allows them to practice the hand movements and tunes before they play the music on the bagpipe. Playing the bagpipe is like riding a bicycle, a skill difficult to learn but never forgotten once it's mastered, Johnston said. Bagpipers must blow air through the bag, squeeze the bag and take air from the bag when they need a breath."It's almost like having a third lung," he said.Women play bagpipes as well as men, but the physical aspect of it may be a deterrent to some of either sex, Johnston said."After you've been standing any length of time, I can tell you it gets very heavy," he said.Once someone has decided to invest in bagpipes, a basic set costs between $1,200 and $1,500, Johnston said. They can cost thousands more depending on the ornamentation.When Johnston is not teaching, he plays with the Chicago Caledonian Pipe Band. He also offers his services to play for veterans returning on honor flights to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C.Johnston is starting to work with orchestras and choirs, as well. He will work with Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream on a ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 next year.For more information on Johnston and Chicalba Bagpiping Services, contact chicalba.com or (630) 534-4964.bull; Do you know someone with an unusual job or hobby? Let us know at sdibble@dailyherald.com, (630) 955-3532 or 4300 Commerce Court, Lisle, 60532.False11952000Dave Johnston instructs a private student in the art of playing the bagpipes in his Glen Ellyn home. Music is learned on the chanter before being played on bagpipes.Tanit Jarusan | Staff PhotographerFalse