Photo from Caller Times

Click here to read the Caller Times article on Water’s Edge Pipes & Drums.

Dan Sheppard knows the bagpipes are a little out of place in Corpus Christi. “South Texas is not a big bagpiping Mecca,” he said. “When I first started learning, my neighbors weren’t too happy.”

But that didn’t stop the fire department paramedic from helping build and teach a group of musicians to become a bagpipe and drum band.

“Now they (the neighbors) have been coming out and they actually enjoy it.” he said. “They’ll pull a lawn chair out and sit down and listen to me while I’m warming the pipes up.”

Sheppard serves as pipe major for the Corpus Christi Fire Department Pipes and Drums band, as well as a combined firefighter and civilian group called Water’s Edge Pipes and Drums. Part of the group is in Emmitsburg, Md., this weekend to play at the National Firefighters Memorial.