I’m pleased to say that I now have my DAVY STEPHENSON practice set,comprised of Holly chanter,‘Danish oil’ finished ash bellows(hand-stitched) hand stitched ROBUST bag,and leather connector.
The Holly chanter has lovely shaped ‘recurved’ bosses in blackwood,nickel-silver ferrules(the chanter top ferrule is engraved ‘Bagpipeworks,Yorkshire,England’).The matching wood chanter top has a lovely grain pattern.
A similar chanter can be seen on the ‘Bagpipeworks’ site,at the bottom of the ‘Chanter’ page.
Why ‘Holly’?
Well,I like the look of ‘wood’-Blackwood is just that-black-.I didn’t particularly want a ‘strident’ sounding chanter,(Holly is described as ‘Mellow’) then,I heard Xelius play on a similar instrument,and I was hooked!
Davy,together with his charming wife,personally delivered my set,on tues. 23/12/03,and I enjoyed a great night’s ‘crack’ about music,in general, and piping in particular.
So far,I have been concentrating on Bag/Bellows co-ordination,long notes,scales of ‘D’ and ‘G’ to ‘G2’.
I realise that I am on the first faltering steps of a long ,long journey(this Piping ‘Lark’ is seriously HARD work!!!)
I’d like to thank Davy for producing my set,and all the board members who provided me with advice and opinions before I set on my course as a ‘Piper’ (only twenty one years to go!)
My only regret is that, my Father,who had a great interest in Irish music,died at the end of October,so didn’t see my Pipes.
Peace and Goodwill to you All.
Hi Kevin,
great news, it is difficult at the start but at least you’ve got a good set to start with. Do you think you’ll get some pics up? I’d be interested to see the style of the chanter, holly looks really well with dark wood trim. Hope you enjoy them. 
Best, Richard
Hi Mac, Merry Christmas! I’ll see what I can do.
Lets play Devil’s Advocate,and wait for the Davy Stephenson predators to bite.
Wish I’d brought my Shark repelant!!!
Thought never crossed my mind, 
You’ve got cynical already and you only just got the pipes. 
Best, Richard
CONGRATULATIONS, Kevin! I know how excited you must be…
I did pretty much nothing but play the set Davy made for me today. Trying to get some recording done… I REALLY love the way his instruments sound - every one that I’ve heard.
Maybe when I come over next month we could hook up sometime and check out each other’s stuff. Where are you again?
-Joey
Mac,I can assure you that I put on my Best ‘Piper’s face’ when I typed that!
Joey,I’d love to hook up with you when you come over to ‘civilisation’(hee hee!).Though I believe that you are going to Exeter,and I am in the wild ‘badlands’ of the NorthEast of England.
Have you ever been to England before?
I am sure that my fellow British Chiff ‘n’ Fipplers and I will look after you!
Kevin M’s “NorthEast of England” is halfway between Exeter
and the Larig Ghru
[It’s 5 hours drive from my house to Newcastle, the capital of the “North East”]
Boyd
Congrats Kevin. Great Holiday present, its arrival! Happy piping to ye!
kevin,
great news. i too have my new stick only a few months.
happy holidays
meir
Congratulations Kevin.
Thank you very much for all the kind words folks.I went back to work today,and of course,my first topic of conversation was the pipes!
My workmates now want me to ‘serenade’ them- though My Piping skills are more up to ‘Groaning’ than Serenades at present (LOL)!!
One girl at work does play the flute,so I suggested that we could perform duets.
Earlier this year,she bought her husband a Piano Accordian off E-Bay,so I lent him a tune book from ‘Folkworks’,to get him started.Hey,we’ve almost got ourselves a band!