The program produces a lot of good pipers. Then there's the Hamilton Pipe Band, an adult ensemble into which some of the kids graduate. Hamilton has won the Grade Three Championship in Glasgow. Clandestine's Jones studied with Cusack for years and used to play for the Hamilton Pipe Band. Celtic and Irish musicians also hone their chops at a weekly pub session at the Mucky Duck.
New players are welcome, but the sessions usually attract the heavy hitters.
Members of Clandestine often will play there when in town. The pub session, the bedrock of Irish music, is something that by definition cannot be scheduled. You show up at the Duck on Wednesdays, around 8 p.m., and hope you get to hear Turlach Boylan, an all-Ireland flute player from County Derry. Or maybe you'll hear members from some of Houston's other Celtic bands like Wyndnwyre. Rex Shaver usually can be found playing the bodhran, the Irish drum made of goatskin.