Eric Rigler
Encyclopedia
Eric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle
. He plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis
, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtrack
s. He has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time". He has been playing all forms of bagpipes
and tin whistles since he was a child, performing solo, with bagpipe bands and other musical groups. It has been said that if one hears bagpipes in a movie or on television, it is most likely to be Eric Rigler. His playing was featured in a commercial for Titleist Golf and episodes of Battlestar Galactica
on the SciFi Channel.
He has been featured playing Great Highland bagpipes, Uilleann pipes and tin whistle on numerous movie soundtracks, including Titanic
, Million Dollar Baby
, Road to Perdition
, Braveheart
, Cinderella Man
, Robots
, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
, DreamWorks's The Prince of Egypt
, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
and critically acclaimed South Korean TV series Jewel in the Palace. He can also be regularly heard playing whistles and Uilleann pipes on the NBC show Crossing Jordan
, and his arrangement of an Irish tune was used as the theme song during the first season ("Reels Part Two: My Love Is In America"--found on the Bad Haggis
CD 'Trip'). He was also featured on TV's USA Network in the 2006 Victoria's Secret
fashion show, playing the bagpipes for the Highland romance sequence and for the AFI Lifetime Achievement celebration for Sean Connery.
Rigler played "Amazing Grace" at former President Ronald Reagan
's funeral in 2004.
Rigler has performed with numerous musicians of many different styles, most famously with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser
and Skyedance
. His work can be heard on CDs by Keith Urban
, Barbra Streisand
, Rod Stewart
, Josh Groban
, Phil Collins
, Rubén Blades
, Meat Loaf
, Romina Arena
and many other musicians.
Rigler plays pipes and whistles in the Celtic World Fusion band he formed, Bad Haggis
, based in Southern California. He occasionally performs with L.A. Irish Rockers The Young Dubliners. Rigler wrote the tunes "The B-52" and "Walking the Plank", which are performed by World Pipe Band Champion
Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band
of Northern Ireland
, the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band
, and other top level bagpipe bands throughout the world.
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
. He plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis is a Celtic band with roots in Scottish music. The American group is led by piper Eric Rigler, who has played on dozens of movie soundtracks...
, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s. He has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time". He has been playing all forms of bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
and tin whistles since he was a child, performing solo, with bagpipe bands and other musical groups. It has been said that if one hears bagpipes in a movie or on television, it is most likely to be Eric Rigler. His playing was featured in a commercial for Titleist Golf and episodes of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
on the SciFi Channel.
He has been featured playing Great Highland bagpipes, Uilleann pipes and tin whistle on numerous movie soundtracks, including Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman...
, Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition is a 2002 American crime film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self, from the graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig...
, Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
, Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man is a 2005 American drama film by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny Marshall, and Brian Grazer.-Plot:James J...
, Robots
Robots (film)
Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...
, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...
, DreamWorks's The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film and the first traditionally animated film produced and released by DreamWorks Animation. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny to lead the...
, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...
and critically acclaimed South Korean TV series Jewel in the Palace. He can also be regularly heard playing whistles and Uilleann pipes on the NBC show Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
, and his arrangement of an Irish tune was used as the theme song during the first season ("Reels Part Two: My Love Is In America"--found on the Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis is a Celtic band with roots in Scottish music. The American group is led by piper Eric Rigler, who has played on dozens of movie soundtracks...
CD 'Trip'). He was also featured on TV's USA Network in the 2006 Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
fashion show, playing the bagpipes for the Highland romance sequence and for the AFI Lifetime Achievement celebration for Sean Connery.
Rigler played "Amazing Grace" at former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's funeral in 2004.
Rigler has performed with numerous musicians of many different styles, most famously with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser
Alasdair Fraser
Alasdair Fraser is a Scottish fiddler.Fraser operates Culburnie Records, and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded three summer fiddling programs: the fiddle camp in California , a week-long course on the Isle of Skye and the more recent in California...
and Skyedance
Skyedance
Skyedance is a Celtic fusion group, founded by fiddler Alasdair Fraser in 1996.-Discography:# Way Out to Hope Street # Labyrinth # Live in Spain -Band members:* Alasdair Fraser * Mick Linden...
. His work can be heard on CDs by Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Romina Arena
Romina Arena
Romina Arena is an Italian-American Popera / Operatic pop /Pop Classical Crossover singer songwriter. She was born May 12, 1980 and grew up in Palermo Sicily and now lives in Los Angeles California...
and many other musicians.
Rigler plays pipes and whistles in the Celtic World Fusion band he formed, Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis
Bad Haggis is a Celtic band with roots in Scottish music. The American group is led by piper Eric Rigler, who has played on dozens of movie soundtracks...
, based in Southern California. He occasionally performs with L.A. Irish Rockers The Young Dubliners. Rigler wrote the tunes "The B-52" and "Walking the Plank", which are performed by World Pipe Band Champion
World Pipe Band Championships
The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition currently held in Glasgow, Scotland every August. The event has been operating regularly since 1930, when the Scottish Pipe Band Association was formed...
Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band
Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band
The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a World Champion grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland and named in honour of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.- Overview :...
of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band
Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band
The Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band, or, more commonly, the LA Scots, is a pipe band located in Orange County, California. The LA Scots are one of four active pipe bands in the United States who compete at the grade one level and have competed at this level since 1998...
, and other top level bagpipe bands throughout the world.
External links
- badhaggis.com The band's regularly updated homepage.
- yahoo.com More information about the movie history of Eric Rigler and Bad Haggis
- Eric Rigler at Rhapsody