EJ Jones is an exponent of one of the finest ‘piping centers in the US, Mike Cusak’s St. Thomas School in Houston, Texas.  Aside from being a successful and respected solo competitor, EJ is best known for his work with Houston’s own Clandestine, a Celtic band that has toured internationally and won fans and critical acclaim world-wide.  EJ is that rare bird in the ‘piping world, a player who is equally at ease in the strict regime of classical solo ‘piping, and the opposite end of the spectrum, “kitchen” or “ceili” music.  In addition to Highland ‘pipes, EJ is an accomplished whistle and flute player, and has achieved considerable skill with bombardes and uillean ‘pipes.  I met EJ at a festival several years back and he is one of my favorite people on the circuit- always great fun to share tunes with.  We have been on stage together many times, and it is always memorable for me.  I got a chance to interview EJ on October 21st, 2001, right after we finished performing together at the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

AP:  How did you get started in ‘piping, EJ?

EJ:  I started at the St. Thomas Episcopal School in Houston, Texas.  My family’s not really Scottish or anything, they just sent me to St. Thomas and I picked it up through friends of mine who played there. 

AP:  What age were you when you started?

EJ:  I was 11 when I picked up the practice chanter.

AP:  What made you decide to stick with it?  Were you hooked right from the start, or was it more of a gradual process?

EJ:  I got little boosts in my morale over the years.  I was going to quit after I left St. Thomas and went to high school, but I was inspired by a choir teacher at my high school who was a huge Anglophile.  His name was Craig Gallagher and he loved the bagpipes.  So when he found out I played he told me “I hear you play the bagpipes- this Friday, in chapel, you’re playing the ‘pipes.”   And from then on every Friday at chapel I had to play for the service.

AP:  You studied with Mike Cusak and Donald MacPhee at St. Thomas as well.

EJ:  Both Mike and Donald have given me a lot of their time over the years.

AP:  You were lucky to have world-class teachers right from the start- one of the reasons why you’re such a fine ‘piper now.  When did you start competing in solo ‘piping?

EJ:   When I was 12, I started off in practice chanter competition.  Competing was just something you did at St. Thomas.  We competed as a ‘pipe band and the solos were never as important as the band, but we were encouraged to go and play solos if we wanted to so I just did, because it was the thing to do.

AP:  All those years of hard work are paying off, since you just recently became an Open Class solo ‘piper. 

EJ:  Yeah, I just moved up to Open a year ago.

AP:  I understand you’ve done quite well in Open- where have you competed recently?

EJ:  My first Open competition was at the Queen Mary competition in Long Beach, California.  Alasdair Gillies was my judge.

AP:  (laughs) No pressure at all then, right?

EJ:  That was one of the most nervous moments in my life, competing in Open Class for the first time, especially with Alasdair.

AP: How do you manage to strike such a good balance between being a successful Open solo player and performing with Clandestine?

EJ:  It takes a lot of practice in both areas and it’s difficult to play both styles at once.  Basically I just practice the competition music and sometimes the band stuff suffers a bit.  It’s a lot of running around for me on Games day.  I get a lot of good feedback from the Judges’ critiques and I just try to put in as many hours of practice as I can each week in both styles of ‘piping.

AP:   I know how difficult that is to do when you’re on the road touring with a band; your dedication is admirable.  Tell us about some of your musical influences- who inspired you to do the stuff that you are doing with Clandestine?

EJ:  One of my major influences early on was a group from Scotland called The Tannahill Weavers.  When I first heard the Tannies, it was a cassette tape I picked up somewhere called “Best of” and it just rocked my world.  I also was inspired by a lot of the English folk revival scene, Nic Jones, Fairport Convention, and some of the ceili bands, like Old Blind Dogs, and the Battlefield Band was huge too- Dougie Pincock is one of my heroes.

AP:  What’s your current set-up for your highland ‘pipes?  What kind of drones/chanter/reeds are you playing now?

EJ:  I play a set of antique MacDougall drones, Shephard synthetic chanter, Gannaway pipe bag, Shephard SM-90 drone reeds and Shephard chanter reeds.

AP:  I noticed you’re playing bombard and flute a lot more in your sets now.  You play both a concert and a wooden flute on stage.  What kind of wooden flute do you play?

EJ:  I play a Sam Murray flute from Belfast.

AP:  Was it a difficult transition, from ‘pipes to flute?

EJ:  Yeah it was a couple years worth of lessons.  The fingering is quite a bit different and it took a lot of practice to be able to go from one to the other smoothly.

AP:  Where do you see yourself going from here?  What’s on tap for EJ Jones in the next few years?

EJ:  What I really want to do is get more into the Irish [uillean] ‘pipes, more into Irish and Breton music and go back to the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, Brittany.

AP:  You’ve been there twice with Clandestine, right?

EJ:  We were there in 1997 and 2000.  We competed in the amateur band contest at Lorient and placed fourth out of twenty-two.  It was a great validation for us to be the only group there from the States and do so well.

AP:  Parting shot:  What advice do you have for people just starting out on the Highland ‘pipes?

EJ:  I would say take the traditional music seriously, and practice a lot.

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Looking for Volume 1? Click here to read Neil's interview with pipemaker Seth Gallagher.