Piping Quest: Play in every state

First State: Virginia (March 1999)
Most recent: Massachusetts (July 21, 2007)
Anticipated next state: none planned as of January 2008

This is a goal I set for myself a while back. I thought it would be a neat thing to do, and an excuse to visit every state in the nation.

I set the guideline that it must be a performance, competition, or serious practice session, so pulling over to play by the side of the road for 5 minutes doesn't count.

I keep track on the map above, and on the chart below, where I have noted where and when I first played in each state. The most recent state is highlighted in red. As you can see I still have a long way to go, but I'm making progress.

 

Alabama	Alaska	Arizona	Arkansas
California	Connecticut	Delaware	Florida Disney World Parade Orlando April 1999
Georgia Stone Mountain Hughland Games Stone Mountain October 2001	Hawaii	Idaho	Illinois
Indiana	Iowa	Kansas	Kentucky Glasgow Highland Games Glasgow June 2004
Louisiana	Maine Job Interview Fryeburg April 2006	Maryland Memorial Day Parade Westminster May 1999	Massachusetts Glasgowlands Scottish Games Northampton July 2007
Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi	Missouri
Montana	Nebraska	Nevada	New Hampshire Irish Music Session North Conway August 2006
New Jersey Funeral Trenton February 2000	New Mexico	New York St Patrick's Day Parade New York City March 2000	North Carolina Loch Norman Highland Games Huntersville April 2001
North Dakota	Ohio Scots wi' Shotts Lorain March 2004	Oklahoma	Oregon
Pennsylvania Band Practice Bethel Park April 2003	Rhode Island Rhode Island Scottish Festival Richmond May 2007	South Carolina Citadel/VMI Parade Charleston November 1999	South Dakota
Tennessee	Texas Funeral Lake Jackson January 2001	Utah	Vermont Band Practice St. Johnsbury December 2006
Virginia VMI Parade Lexington April 1999	Washington	Washington, DC	West Virginia Scottish Festival Bridgeport May 2004
	Wisconsin	Wyoming

 

Other places I've played:

Ontario, Canada, Hamilton Highland Games, June 2004
Quebec, Canada, Montreal Highland Games, August 2007
Scotland: Practices in Edinburgh, August 1999; World Pipe Band Championships, Glasgow, August 2006
Calica, Mexico, December 2007

**Yes, you read that correctly, I did play during a job interview. It was my first trip to Maine and there was no guarantee that I would ever return, so I took my pipes. During a slow time in the day-long interview, I played a brief performance for the school's AP music theory class. Turns out I didn't need to take my pipes since I got the job and now live in Maine, but it makes for a nice story.