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PEEKSKILL, N.Y. Leading Saturdays St. Patricks Day Parade in New York City, before the parades military escort and just after a group of mounted NYPD officers, Peekskill resident and renowned bag piper Joe Brady Jr. will march.
I was lucky to start at the right age, at 8-years-old you can do almost anything, said Brady, who was taught the notoriously difficult and ancient instrument by his father. Brady quickly rose through the ranks of competitive musicianship, competing fiercely from age 16 on as the only certified drum and pipe major in the United States.
One and a half miles of marchers will assemble on New York Citys Fifth Avenue Saturday morning. About 2 million spectators will attend and half a million television viewers will watch the parade. This year marks the 22nd year that Brady, 56, will head up the parade, 2012 is the 251st anniversary of the parade itself.
Through his many years competing, Brady eventually became a professor of music at West Point, is currently an adjudicator at several piping competitions. He is an honorary member of the "Fighting" 69th Regiment of New York National Guard that leads the New York City parade. Brady is a founding member of the Peekskill St. Patricks Day Parade, 23 years ago, and continues to be active in the parade in Peekskill, among the others he leads.
You see the millions of people on Fifth Avenue cheering on the troops and they have placards, and I love that because thats not what you read in the newspaper, said Brady. This years parade is dedicated to American veterans. To be part of that group, to be cheered on for what they do, for all of us, is very, very important to me, he said.
The east coast of the eastern United States is probably one of the highest populations of pipers and drummers anywhere in the planet. The Eastern United States Pipe Band Association has several thousand members, said Eric MacNiell, president of the group.
MacNiell, a 28-year-old drum major, said he remembers marching behind Brady from the time he was a child. Brady judged MacNiell in several competitions, encouraging him through nerve racking moments.
Brady said there isnt a month of the year that he isnt performing at funerals, weddings, military engagements and parades. The small world of drumming and piping is orbited by highland game competitions and other traditional performances such as dancing.
Bradys four daughters are dancers, performing both traditional Irish and Scottish dancing and more modern and contemporary fare. Brady himself is a second generation American citizen, his grandparents were born in Ireland and some great grandparents were born in Scotland.
The New York City St. Patricks Day Parade begins at 11 a.m., marchers begin at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue and continue past 80th Street, where the parade ends. The parade can be viewed live online.
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