HIRE THE BAND, A MINI BAND, OR A SOLOIST
Contact us for details on what we can provide for your event. The band and individual players have participated in weddings, school commencements, graduations, funerals, and other civic events. We will provide a price that depends on how many band members you are considering, and the time and distances involved.
OUR CHARTER
To further the Celtic arts and traditions by demonstrations in public performances and specifically, to teach Highland bag piping and Scottish style pipe band drumming;
to associate all interested persons for charitable purposes in connection with the
foregoing and to obtain funds or income for charitable purposes in connection therewith:
to provide for the delivery and hosting of lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, classes, and conferences calculated to advance the cause of education in the Celtic arts.
OUR HISTORY
Kentucky United Pipes and Drums began as a vision of president/drummer Barry Miller as a way to promote piping and drumming in central Kentucky through a competition pipe band.
The first meeting was held at the home of Barry and Nancy Miller on November 14, 2003, to see if the interest was there for such an organization. The response was overwhelming and so Kentucky United Pipes and Drums was born.
The first performance of KUPD was at the Kentucky Scottish Weekend May 8th, 2004, with the band giving a strong performance winning third place and the drum section taking first place.
The highlight of 2004 was the performance of KUPD at the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where the band took second place out of 17 bands in grade 5, a great ending to a first year from a band at that time was not even one year old. 2005 began with KUPD taking first place at Kentucky Scottish Weekend. More recently, KUPD finished 3rd out of 16 bands at the Stone Mountain games in October 2006.
In October 2006, the band voted to wear the Commonwealth of Kentucky tartan as the official tartan of the band. Kilts were purchased and arrived in time for the Kentucky Scottish Weekend in May 2007.
If you want to attend a band rehearsal, you are welcome. However, please contact us in advance to ensure that we can accommodate you on a date of your choice.
WANT TO VISIT A REHEARSAL?
OUR TARTAN
Kentucky is bounded on the north by the Ohio River and on the west by the Mississippi River, and between these boundaries are two of the largest man-made lakes in the world, Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. The blue water of these rivers, lakes, and other streams is represented by the blue in the Kentucky Tartan.
Kentucky was the birthplace of both presidents in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, born in Hodgenville in Larue County, and Jefferson Davis, born near Fairview in Christian County. The Kentucky Tartan's blue and gray represents the brave soldiers who fought during the Civil War; and
The green and blue green in the Tartan represents Kentucky's bluegrass where magnificent thoroughbreds graze and frolic among the few that are training for the Kentucky Derby.
Kentucky is located in the geographic area known as the Bible Belt; many brave and courageous Kentuckians of American Scottish descent fought and died for religious freedom and independence. White in the Kentucky Tartan represents their purity, goodness, bravery and valor.
The official state bird is the Kentucky Cardinal, and red in the Tartan represents the precious blood that was shed by many American Scottish citizens of this great Commonwealth in the defense of freedom.
The Tartan's bright yellow represents the Goldenrod, Kentucky's state flower; and the black "window pane check" in the Tartan represents the Commonwealth's coal and oil resources.