Members

Stephen Cheyne
Side/Tenor/Bass Drummer / Trio Drums

Stephen began drumming at the age of 8 with the Buchan Pipe Band. Stephen has enjoyed many successes with Buchan competing with them from Grade 4 through to reaching Grade 1 in 1997 with the highlight of playing the side drum when the band became Grade 2 World Champions in 1996. In that year Buchan won all 5 Major Championships in Grade 2.

Stephen is not currently competing with the band due to work commitments however he continues to compose the Bass & Tenor beatings for the band. Stephen also continues to tutor beginners who aim to become members of the Grade 4 band.

Mike Crichton
Snare Drummer

Mike started learning the side drum at the age of 9 with the 47th Aberdeen (Culter) Boys Brigade Pipe Band with Leading Drummer Brian (Mooner) Martin. At 12years old he was part of the Novice Juvenile Band competing successfully in RSPBA events. Progression into the newly formed Juvenile Band was followed by the formation of the Culter and District Pipe Band in which Mike competed for 2 years before he stopped playing. Some 18 years later, following a discussion Brian Martin, Mike joined Buchan Pipe Band and has enjoyed success with the corps particularly winning the Grade 2 European Drum Corps Championships in 2005.

Keith Cruickshank
Snare Drummer

Keith started his drumming career, at 10 years old, when he went to Keith Pipe Band to learn drumming. He was a playing member for 10 years before he moved to Bishopmill Pipers Club for a short period and then onto Elgin City Pipe Band for 3 years. Stonehaven Pipe Band utilized his drumming talents for 2 of their successful years and Keith joined Buchan in 1996 as a drummer.

Murray Kane
Snare Drummer

Murray started drumming at the age of 12 with the Heatherdale Pipe Band, then at age 15 spent a short time with Stonehaven Pipe Band before joining the army at 16. Training completed he went to the Army school of music and also played for the Penicuik and District Pipe Band. He joined the 1st battalion the Gordon highlanders drums and pipes and served until 1998. After leaving the army Murray then joined the Grampian Police Pipe Band until he retired from drumming in 2000, but joined Buchan Pipe Band in late 2006.

Carolyn Martin
Snare Drummer

Deeside Ladies Pipe Band was a prodigious source of developing talent as it progressed in the Pipe Band world and Carolyn, aged 8, was part of the learning structure of that Band where her mother was the Leading Drummer. Carolyn remained a playing member of the Band for the next 11 years. She, as a competent snare drummer, then moved to Culter and District Pipe Band for 9 years before joining Buchan Pipe Band where she has been an integral member of the Drum corps for 12 years.

Hazel Martin
Tenor Drummer

Hazel progressed through the ranks of Deeside Ladies Pipe Band where she started learning, aged 7, under the tuition of Julie Elrick who helped produce the winning Band combination of its era with numerous Championships.  As part of this type of training and tutoring Hazel played with the Band for a number of years before joining Buchan Pipe Band, originally in 1996, where she played for one winning season of Championship titles and then stopped playing and competing however maintaining her interest in drumming and tenor drumming. Hazel returned to the ranks of the Buchan Tenor corps at the end of the 2006 competition season.

Marteen Nicoll
Tenor Drummer

Marteen started learning to play the side drum at the tender age of 9 with The City of Brechin Pipe Band. She decided that the Tenor Drum appealed to her more and she changed from side drum to learning the Tenor beatings when she was 10 years old. Once this was mastered, Marteen then played with The City of Brechin Pipe Band for the next 4 seasons with some success. In 2006, she made the move from playing in a Band in Grade 4 up to playing in Grade 2 with Buchan Pipe Band and has completed a relatively successful season with the Band.

Lynne Robertson
Bass/ Tenor Drummer

Tenor drum tuition for Lynne began when she was 8 yrs old with Deeside Ladies Pipe Band and she stayed with the band until aged 14. Lynne’s tenor drumming talent took her from Grade 4 straight into Grade 1 with Stonehaven Pipe Band and playing Tenor for some years before she was persuaded by PM Jim Bain and LD Gary Fullerton to learn and play Bass. Her natural ability was soon evident and playing Bass is Lynne’s preferred choice which she did when joining Buchan Pipe Band in 1996. She was part of the Grade 2 “5 Championships in row” era before joining Grampian Police Pipe Band in 2001 for 2 seasons where she played Tenor. Lynne returned to Buchan Pipe Band in 2003 and plays her favoured Bass.

Ronald Simpson
Snare Drummer

Ronald began drumming at the age of 13 with the Buchan Pipe Band where he started off in the Grade 4 band, progressing to Leading Drummer, a position he held for 3 years before joining the then Grade 1 band in 2000. One of the biggest influences has been the tuition received from Jill McHaffie, a well known snare drummer, who devoted considerable time to coaching young drummers. Ronald continues to play for the Grade 2 band and also devotes considerable time to tutor and coach beginners who aim to become members of the Buchan Grade 4 band. The highlight of playing in the band was becoming European drumming Champions in Ireland in 2005.

Greg Wallace Skinner
Snare Drummer

The youngest son of Robert - Pipe Major of Buchan Pipe Band, Greg has continued the Skinner family tradition by following in his Grandad's drumming footsteps. At the age of 5 Greg began side drum tuition with Alastair Taylor- a former side drummer with the band who had also followed the Grade 4 progression route up to Grade 2.

Greg started competing, as a side drummer, with the Grade 4 Band at the age of nine. He went on to be Leading Drummer with the Grade 4 throughout the 2004/05 seasons with some success, and he was later promoted to the senior, Grade 2 Buchan Pipe Band in 2006.

Jackie Stewart
Snare Drummer

Jackie followed the family tradition into Pipe Bands and started to learn to play the chanter and bagpipes before switching to his favored instrument, the side drum when he was 14 yrs old. Both Jackie’s father and brother continue to play pipes competitively today maintaining the family traditions. Jackie played competitively with Forfar Pipe Band in grade 3 for a number of years and in 1990 he moved to Grade 1 with Tayside Police where he was tutored by Paul Turner. The next move was to Stonehaven Pipe Band for 5 years before heading for a successful spell competing and tutoring at Montrose Pipe Band and then retiring. In 2002, after a break of 7 years, he joined the successful Buchan Pipe Band drum corps.

Jackie, always willing to help all members, was elected Buchan Pipe Band Manager in 2006.

Joe Strachan
Tenor Drummer

Following the family interest in Pipe Bands, Joe started learning Tenor drumming in the relatively newly formed Fraserburgh Pipe Band when he was aged 8 years and showed talent for the complexities of the tenor drumming art which he has developed significantly since that time. Joe’s first competition was competing at Grade 4 level at The RSPBA World Championships when he was 10 years old.

Following a number of years competing in both local and Major competitions with Fraserburgh Pipe Band, Joe joined Buchan Pipe Band at the end of the 2006 competition season.