TheTerribleTenor

TERRIBLE AMBASSADOR INVITATION

2010-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Become a “Terrible Ambassador!” Do you have a passion for sharing tenor drumming, bagpiping or Scottish music with children? The Terrible Tenor starring Gracie McPhee invites you to become an official Terrible Ambassador.

What’s involved? Your willingness to share the book and an enthusiastic music demonstration with a school near you!

It’s easy!

(1) Just have the school library order the book online from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or take your own copy

(2) Contact author, Bev Parnell, for your Terrible Ambassador Toolkit with choice of postcards, tattoos, bookmarks, stickers & coloring pages

(3) Have fun reading the book & sharing some Scottish music & education!

www.terribletenor.com will feature stories and photos of Terrible Ambassadors in action, so be sure to share. For more information email bev.parnell@gmail.com . Thanks and have a “Terrible day!”

Schenectady Pipe Band Shout Out

2010-10-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

A big shout out to the Schenectady Pipe Band and The Terrible Tenor's first official "Terrible School Ambassador" Thomas LaBelle. Thomas will be introducing Gracie and The Terrible Tenor to nearby schools along with highland music education and community outreach. Kudos!!

Battle of the Bagpipes: A Journey to the World Pipe Band Championship

2010-08-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

A new documentary film gets up close and personal with the six-time world champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.

Battle of the Bagpipes: A Journey to the World Pipe Band Championship , follows the band and its junior band, the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, through its most recent run for victory at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow Scotland in 2009.

The documentary reveals what it’s like to play in the band and prepare for the intensity of world competition. It aired on the CBC over the weekend and was phenomenal!!

The band competes again on the world stage in Glasgow on Aug. 14, 2010. Good luck!!!

SSHG @ Enumclaw,WA-Get Your Book Here!

2010-07-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Terrible Tenor will be at the Annual Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gathering July 31 & Aug 1st in Enumclaw, WA. Autographed books will be available at the Keith Highlanders band tent; just find the "author in pink." Hope to see you there!

Self-Published Contest

2010-05-19T20:00:00.001-07:00

The Terrible Tenor has been entered in the Writer's Digest 2010 Self-Published Book Contest. Wish us luck! prize money will be re-invested into a scholarship for a "Fabulous Terrible Tenor" out there somewhere to attend Winter School. WOOT!

Results won't be revealed until October so keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed for good luck.

NH "Terrible Tenors"

2010-05-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, ya'll...so here's a couple of great photos from our new friends in NH, who recently rocked an awesome competition. W00t!!
Cheers and a big SHOUT OUT to NH Pipes and Drums "terrible tenors." Way to go Pat, Alicia & Betsy!! Gracie hearts you!

(In photo: L to R....Pat, Alicia & Betsy)

'Terrible' Tasty Southern Shortbread Recipe

2010-04-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! Enjoy Gracie's super-easy 'Terrible' Tasty Southern Shortbread Recipe. Wishing you all a 'Terrible Weekend!'

Ingredients:

8 ounces butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

(Note: Kiddos--get an adult to help!) Combine all ingredients; use hands to knead until ingredients are blended. Press into ungreased pans (or chill and roll out to about 1/2-inch on a floured board and cut into shapes). Bake at 325° for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cut into wedges while warm or break apart. Be Truly Terrible and dip in your favorite chocolate or frosting...Gracie prefers 2" of pink confectioner's icing. Enjoy!!!!

Shout out to NH Pipes & Drums

2010-04-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

A Terrible Tenor SHOUT OUT & GRACEnotes virtual fist-bump (or high-five if you're old school), comes to us today from Pat Edwards with NH Pipes & Drums. Here's the scoop in Pat's words....

"I'm giving a shout out to my own new crew of tenor drummers. Three of us recently took up tenor drumming with the NH Pipes and Drums. After working together for about three months we recently played in our first competition and our band placed second out of six grade 5 bands. We were sure that we were going to mess up our flourishing but all went well and the ensemble grade was solid. Two of us have never played drums before so we were very surprised and pleased to be part of a competing pipe band who placed in the top two."

P.S. I look forward to reading your book. I think all we (female) tenor drummers have a bit of the "terrible" in us.

Congratulations to the NH Tenor crew from The Terrible Tenor! YOU ROCKED IT!

Thanks KHPB & KPC

2010-04-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band and Kirkland Performance Center for hosting The Terrible Tenor at the year's spring concert. It was a pleasure! And the concert was AWESOME. Highlights included Jori Chisholm and the dancers from Bentzen School of Highland Dance. Good luck to KHPB in the 2010 competition season and congratulations on the recent BC Indoor 1st place showing for the Grade IV band.

At Kirkland Performance Center with KHPB March 25-27th

2010-03-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Terrible Tenor will be available at the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band concert at Kirkland Performance Center March 25th-27th. Author signings will be available the evening of March 27th.

It's an amazing concert and we hope to see you there! XOXO- Gracie & Bev

GRACENotes: Getting Merry!

2010-03-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the GRACENotes Tenor Drummer of the Month for March 2010: Inge Bentzen Merry!

Inge Merry plays tenor drum in the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band. She has been an honorary member of the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band for eleven years and competes both locally and internationally with with band. KHPB took 3^rd place in the World Pipe Band Championships held in Glasgow, Scotland, 2008.Recently, the Keith Highlanders (Bellevue, WA) presented the 2009 Chief’s Award to Inge – congratulations Inge on the award in recognition of a year of tireless contributions.

Inge is also an instructor with Bentzen School of Highland Dance (along with her sister, Kiki Bentzen). Inge is passionate about sharing the tradition of Scottish Highland Dancing to students and audience members all over the world, and her interest in the Scottish arts is shared with dancers of all skill levels and age. She instructs for U.S. and international championships, local competition, show choreography and exhibitions. Inge believes her dancers will receive quality instruction, build lifelong friendships, build the strength of an athlete while learning a unique style of dance.

Inge is a full member of the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance (SDTA), and the Federation of United States Teachers and Adjudicators (FUSTA). She has competed successfully at a championship level in Scotland, the United States, and Canada for many years, and has been teaching in the Pacific Northwest since 1991.

Inge is a huge asset to the Highland community in the Northwest and we're proud to honor her here.

GRACENotes Thursday: Tenor Drummer of the Week Jane Bolima

2010-02-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

GRACEnotes honors Jane Bolima of The Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums in Ketichikan, Alaska.

Jane is the band co-founder and energetic Band Manager. She has played tenor drum for several years and has attended drumming workshops such as the Mastery of Scottish Arts Winter School, and has attended several Highland Games in the Pacific Northwest.

The Terrible Tenor first met Jane at the 2008 Winter School & our paths crossed again this year. Jane has these awesome tenor mallet head covers that are super-sparkly in every color of the rainbow. They are especially fantastic under strobe lights or so we hear--during the "Tenors Gone Wild"sets. Thanks to Jane for the awesome set pictured here!

What does Gracie McPhee say? "A 10 out of 10 on the tenor-licious scale!"

2010 Winter School: Release Celebration

2010-02-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

A "Terrible" Day with Tyler, Michael, fabulous tenors...and Krispy Kreme doughnuts!!

The Terrible Tenor Release Celebration with support from Maureen & Angus with The Tartan Thistle was a blast today. Our first 2010 book signing event was held with Winter School at Seabeck Conference Center, met with a gorgeous "HD day" with blue skies and awesome views of the Olympic Mountains and Hood Canal.

Tenor drumming legends Tyler Fry and Michael O'Neil joined in the fun along with the 2010 Winter School Tenor students.

You can see the motley crew here posing with their platinum TyFry Sticks--my favorite now for years.

We heart our tenor drumming buds: you ROCK!! Thanks for a very special day, y'all!!!

The Terrible Tenor & Tartan Thistle

2010-02-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

A limited number of autographed copies of The Terrible Tenor will be available at The Tartan Thistle this weekend, Feb. 6th & 7th, at Winter School in Seabeck, WA.

GRACEnotes-Weekend Edition:Winter School 2010

2010-01-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

The Winter School provides instruction for bass, side and tenor drumming. For this coming session in February of 2010, Tyler fry and Michael O'Neil are the instructors. Click here to learn more about Winter School.

With Winter School right around the corner, let's kick off 2010 with a big GRACEnotes shout out to the tenor instructors:

Tyler Fry - is one of the world’s leaders in the art of tenor drumming. By age 14 he had won every major professional title in North America, including the Canadian, United States and North American Championships. With the 78th Fraser Highlanders, Tyler was part of three World Champion midsections. He now plays with Scotland’s House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band. His company ‘TyFry’ produces quality tenor sticks that are used by the world’s top pipe bands. Tyler also travels extensively throughout the world teaching workshops and seminars. The energy he brings to the stage, is only surpassed by the energy and passion he brings to instructing others. Such demand has he created, that we've added an additional instructor for the weekend Winter School tenor drumming session to reduce his class size!

Michael O’Neil, Carmel, California. Michael began playing the drums in 1994 and joined the Prince Charles Pipe Band of San Francisco in 1996. In 2000, the Prince Charles Band won the Grade 2 World Pipe Band Championship in Scotland, also winning the “best bass section” award in the competition. He played with the RMM II pipe band in Vancouver in 2006, winners of the Grade 2 World Pipe Band Championship. Michael joined the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band in 2007, and performed with the band in 2008 and 2009 while winning the Word Pipe Band Championships back to back, including best drum corps prizes both years. An accomplished solo competitor, Michael has also won the gold medal tenor event at the “Winterstorm” event in Kansas City on two separate occasions.

GRACEnotes Thursday: Tenor of the Week-Melinda Eng

2009-12-31T20:07:00.000-08:00

GRACEnotes celebrates the final 2009 Drummer of the Week. Congrats to Melinda Eng, nominated by V. Scott Parker!

I nominate Melinda Eng for "Fabulous tenor drummer of the week!" Melinda has been a tenor drummer and a Bass drummer since she was a kid in High School. She played bass drum in the Shadle Park High School Pipe Band, then tenor drum in the Angus Scott Pipe Band. Melinda is also an accomplished Cello player. She was a member of the Spokane Youth Symphony for 5 years.

After High School, Melinda joined the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band where she played Bass and Tenor drum in the G4 band, then moving up to the G3 band. Melinda now plays tenor drum in the Portland Metro G2 Pipe Band.

Melinda is one of those people that's always there when you need her as a drummer and a friend. She has always been a source of reliability in any pipe band and always carries a smile with her where ever she goes. Her dedication and commitment to Pipe Band music as well as people, is a true asset to any Pipe Band/Tenor Corps.

Kudos! to you Melinda! You're the fabulous tenor drummer of the week!
(Submitted by V. Scott Parker)

GRACEnotes Thursday resumes next week

2009-12-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!GRACEnotes Thursday resumes next week...

Praise from Marcie MacRae Querry

2009-12-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

"I just got my book last night...it is so wonderful!"

Thanks to Marcie MacRae Querry for her support of The Terrible Tenor.
Visit her website http://macraedrumming.com/

Marcie is one of Washington State’s premier Scottish Tenor and Bass Instructors and her website is a great resource for Scottish Tenor and Bass drummers.

GRACEnotes Thursday

2009-12-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

Today Gracie McPhee travels South & gives a GRACEnotes shout out to Laura Doll, Tenor Drummer with The Louisville Pipe Band (Louisville, KY)where she instructs and City of Washington where she played in the 2009 season. In her spare time Laura loves belly dancing, re-enactment and she makes some wicked Christmas cookies!

XOXO, Laura!

Have a TERRIBLE Christmas & Holiday Season!

2009-12-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

Make it a TERRIBLE Christmas & holiday season!

Limited editions of autographed copies of The Terrible Tenor in hardback are available just in time for the holidays and Christmas! Available only through contacting the author at www.terribletenor.com OR bev.parnell@gmail.com. Accepting orders through Monday Dec 21st in time for seasonal delivery.

(NOTE: Deadline to order through the publisher in time for holiday delivery has passed.)

GRACEnote Thursday :Celebrating the Who's Who of Tenor Drumming

2009-12-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Each Thursday Gracie McPhee gives a GRACEnotes shout out to a fabulous tenor drummer or corp of the week. Wanna nominate someone? Email me bev.parnell@gmail.com with the details of awesomeness.

This week, Gracie and I give GRACEnotes to the Keith Highlanders tenor corp--past and present--that supported the release of The Terrible Tenor. Cheers to Inge Merry,Leisl Petrakis, Cassandra Hurd, Allie Guerrero, Doris O'Connnor, Sarena Hyman, Melinda Eng, Colleen Salmie & Kelsey Flotlin. Phenomenal women and premiere drummers one and all!!!

PS- Don't you love Gracie in her holiday wear dressed up as an Irish dancer?

2009-12-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

Seattle Firefighters Pipes & Drums participated in a mass band event to honor the 4 fallen Lakewood police officers. It was a moving ceremony that I watched with Liam today, December 8th at 1 pm televised from the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The officers being honored:Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the fallen.

Thank you Seattle Firefighters Pipes & Drums for the beautiful memorial.

Gracie McPhee was Born in KHPB

2009-11-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

So here is a terrific post from our home band, KHPB--where Gracie McPhee was born. I wrote the story, The Terrible Tenor, hanging out in the drum room waiting for rehearsal to start one evening about 2 years ago. The idea just sailed out of the clear blue sky, more in poem form at first. Several weeks later I read "Two Weeks to a Breakthrough" after hearing Lisa Hanegan speak on this subject at ASTD. I just knew The Terrible Tenor would be a "breakthrough" and so I scheduled a luncheon the very next week with Seattle illustrator, Dana Arnim at Atlas Foods in University Village. Dana shared that her grandfather played bagpipes and also how she'd worn leopard print tights while pregnant with her daughter Kate, so that her pregnant belly appeared to be leopard print too. I took it as a sign from the Universe I had the right illustrator...complete with red hair and freckles too!

The BUZZZ...check out what others are saying

2009-11-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

THE BUZZ....See what others are saying about The Terrible Tenor:

"The Terrible Tenor is a celebration of the popularity of tenor drumming and chance to expose younger audiences to this incredible art form." (Tyler Fry)

"The details are just fantastic! Really well done!" (Reid Maxwell)

"I have a few autographed copies awaiting me in Seattle. Two for my classroom library, and one for the grandkids! It's great to see a children's book with a highland games as a setting!
Well done, Bev!"- (Mike Cole)

"I had a chance to see an early copy of this book last week. Nicely written and illustrated, quality printing, good message for youngsters. Good choice for that extra holiday gift for your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends' children." (Gary M., bass drummer)

The Terrible Tenor has Arrived

2009-11-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

After a 2 year gestation period, The Terrible Tenor has arrived!Our sincere thanks and gratitude to the Celtic Arts Foundation (Mt. Vernon, WA) for their generous support of The Terrible Tenor project by awarding a grant. It's been a wild ride with many, many people to thank including Tyler Fry for his enthusiasm and support, Dana Arnim (the artist/illustrator) for many cups of coffee and putting up with me and my sweetie, Graeme for his total faith in this project.