Piper’s perseverance lends perspective ahead of Tattoo
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Every piper has a story, and this piper’s story is one of perseverance.
Tidewater Pipes and Drums carries on the Scottish pipe band tradition in Southeastern Virginia. The group is made up of members of all ages, all backgrounds and military branches.
For some, the bag pipes can bring back memories, whether they be joyful moments or maybe, tearful goodbyes. However, for one member of the Tidewater Pipes and Drums, they brought hope during a difficult time.
While stationed in Fort Reilly, Kansas, Heather Moore received a difficult cancer diagnosis. She was told she’d only have five years left to live. Moore said she couldn’t do much during treatments and she started hearing a man playing his bagpipes on base.
“We would go sit on the porch or take our camping chairs out and sit and listen to him play on the field,” Moore said.
After overcoming cancer, she picked up her own set of bagpipes. She and her family moved to Smithfield and she started playing here in Hampton Roads.
“It’s mesmerizing,” Moore said. “It’s beautiful. Outdoors, on a field, on a hill by the water.”
Moore is a Navy veteran and her husband is career Army, and their kids are joining the ranks too. She said the Tattoo really speaks to her and her entire family.
“The value of the Tattoo for the military community, and even sharing what the military’s about with those that that don’t serve to me, is just amazing,” Moore said.
Fellow Tidewater Pipes and Drums member Christopher French is a lieutenant commander in the Navy and stationed here in Hampton Roads. He enlisted in the Navy as a musician and was a member of one of the fleet bands.
“I auditioned for a spot with the Navy music program,” French said, “and I was a percussion instrumentalist and drummer up in Newport, Rhode Island. And then I just kept going, just kept playing.”
French hopes seeing the performers at the Tattoo will inspire music students to think about a potential career in the armed forces.
“It allows you to play at a very high level coming right out of school,” French said, “and to be able to make a salary that’s that’s you won’t find out being a private musician out in town or a studio musician.”
To him, music is a freedom to express yourself that you often don’t get to share with others, and although he’s no longer in the fleet band, it’s something that’s close to his heart.
“I’ve always kept music going as a side hobby,” French said. “[It] has been a passion that I’ve been able to share with my kids and my family.”
And it will be his third performance at Virginia International Tattoo.
“It’s so much fun,” French said. “You get to meet people and that we’re with people all around the world that you you just become lifelong friends with.”
Moore remembers being on the floor the first year standing in line between the Marine Corps and Navy bands. She said it’s an experience that will always remind her how far she’s come.
“I looked forward and saw a young girl playing trumpet like I did in high school, the bob, and she just reminded me of myself in the service,” Moore said, “and I thought to myself, if I could tell the 20-year-old me what the 50-year-old me is doing, we’re doing well, we’re doing good.”
More information
Tidewater Pipes and Drums is just one of the groups performing this weekend at the Tattoo, for a link to buy tickets, click here.
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