The Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band celebrates its Twenty-fifth Anniversary in 2005. This milestone prompted the band to reflect on our heritage and on what we might do to honor the Scottish culture and music we hold so dear. This music compilation project was the result.Mesa Caledonian was fortunate to come into existence at a time when the face of Scot­tish bagpiping was being radically changed by people and events — perhaps more so than in any other era. Some of these changes involved the instrument itself. During this twenty-five year period, plastic pipe chanters evolved to the point that many are as good or better than their blackwood counterparts, and in the last quarter century, a number of World Pipe Band Champi­onships have been won with plastic chanters. Playable plastic pipes became available. Syn­thetic pipe bags, moisture control systems, pressure regulators and synthetic drone reeds made the instrument much easier for less experienced musicians to play well. Information on bagpip­ing is widely available on the internet through places like Bob Dunsire's Forum. On-line in­struction is even a reality. While fingering embellishments and blowing tone haven't changed, technology clearly has helped improve the overall level of playing during the past twenty-five years.During this same time, piping in North America blossomed beyond anyone's wildest ex­pectations. Bands like Simon Fraser University and the 78^th Fraser Highlanders began making annual treks to the World Pipe Band Championship - and started bringing the World Champi­onship banner back to North America. And this success wasn't just limited to Grade i bands. The LA Scots, City of Washington, and Prince Charles won World Championships in Grade 2, while Milton Optimist, Prince Charles, High Desert Pipes and Drums, Robert Malcolm Memo­rial and St. Thomas Episcopal won World Championships in Grades 3, 4 and Juvenile. These successes transformed the World Pipe Band Championship into a true world event, which now brings some 250 bands from across the globe to join in a week-long festival in Glasgow. Mesa Caledonian has been proud and fortunate to play a small part in those festivities and will con­tinue to do so. Also, in the past twenty-five years, pipers like Jack Lee, Mike Cusack, Bruce Woodley, John Cairns and Bruce Gandy crossed the Atlantic to win Gold Medals in virtually all the major solo contests in Scotland. North American adjudicators like Major Archie Cairns, Ed Neigh, Bob Worrall, Ken Eller and Jim McGillivray have been recognized to judge bands and soloists in the circles and on the boards in Scotland. And finally, in this same era, North Ameri­can pipe makers like Dunbar, Gibson and Kron began producing exceptional instruments that easily match their Scottish rivals.By the end of this 25 year period, North American piping has easily achieved an equal footing with piping anywhere else in the world. So, to honor the contribution provided by all the North American pipers who keep our culture alive and prospering "a wee bit west of Skye" Mesa Caledonian decided to compile and publish bagpipe music written by North American composers. We are pleased and proud to have compiled 66 tunes from 31 composers across North America. The collection includes tunes from well-know composers, but perhaps more importantly, it includes some very, very good tunes by artists whose names may not be well-known beyond their own bands. We are honored to showcase all of these North American com­posers and sincerely hope this publication helps foster our culture in some small way. We also hope you enjoy this collection as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.