They established the town of Tarpon Springs, a few miles northwest of Tampa, as one of the world centers for sponge diving. Nikitas Tsimouris was the first Floridian to be awarded the National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor given by the United States government to traditional artists. Tsimouris learned to play and make tsabounas from his father, while growing up on Kalymnos, a small Greek island just a few miles west of Turkey. Most people identify the bagpipe with Scotland. However, nearly every country in Europe has a bagpipe tradition.
Today playing the tsabouna is a vanishing art, even in Greece.
It is believed that the instrument was developed by herdsmen to pass time while tending sheep and goats. Tsabouna music is played in rhythmic patterns unlike the two, three, and four beat music to which most Americans are accustomed. It is dance music and nearly every tune has a song associated with it. Often the lyrics are improvised spontaneously. The repertoire of tunes, playing style and melodic ornamentation vary from one Greek island to the next.