The Western United States Pipe Band Association is an association of pipe band

Pipe band

A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....

s from the Western United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It sanctions band and solo piping

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...

 competitions and has a membership of over fifty bands.

History

The association was founded in 1963 and was originally called the Pacific Coast Pipe Band Association. Later, it expanded geographically to include more of the Western United States, including bands in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, and Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. It offers band, solo piping and drumming, and drum major

Drum Major

A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...

 competitions with accredited judges at WUSPBA-sanctioned events in several states, and it is a member of the Alliance of North American Pipe Band Associations. The association also maintains a list of instructors within the area of its jurisdiction. The organization includes over fifty bands, ranging from juvenile and grade four bands to grade one bands such as the Prince Charles Pipe Band

Prince Charles Pipe Band

Founded in 1967 to train young people in piping and drumming, the Prince Charles Pipe Band is an extensive organization which includes Grade 2, Grade 3 and Grade 5 pipe bands. The Grade 2 band was re-formed in late 2008 with a combination of members from the now defunct Grade 1 band, and newer...

 and the Los Angeles Scots

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...

.