Ask and ye shall receive; this week whilst I'm home for Christmas, my Grandfather (and Flute Band legend) Brian Houston has found time in his schedule to make an appearance on the podcast (and even offered up his kitchen for the occasion.)

We chat about his decorated career as conductor and player of some of the finest flute bands in Northern Ireland, over a glittering 67 year career. From competitions with Jimmy Galway, to a titanic clash with Arthur Fleming for the World Championships, this episode is a real treat for flute band enthusiasts.

We also welcomed my Grandmother, Valerie Houston, for the first 10 minutes to comment as Inline G's biggest fan, and she finally addresses those bread knife threats.

I'd also recommend checking out episode 5, "Flute Bands of Northern Ireland" before watching this episode. It'll give you all the background information you need; we had too much to cover to go back to basics today.

If you'd like to support the podcast, you can buy me a beer or a Dr Pepper with my PayPal link below (also in my Instagram bio!)

Inline G will ALWAYS be free of charge, but small donations of a few euro/pounds/dollars help keep the lights on round here, if you can afford it x

www.paypal.me/garethhouston92

And, if you want to chat more, he's all my socials, I'd love to hear from you!

TikTok, Facebook and Instagram: @GarethHoustonFlute

Smooches x

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introductions and accent warnings

00:02:33 - Valerie and Brian Houston talk Inline G

00:13:25 - 50 years service medal to Flute Bands

00:14:08 - The Old Woman in the Shoe (and kilts)

00:17:40 - Simple System Flutes of Belfast

00:20:25 - The Argyle Temperance Flute Band

00:28:22 - Both of us stopping the flute

00:30:00 - Solos and Small Ensembles Competition

00:34:18 - The Ballygowan Flute Band

00:44:15 - The glory days of Flute Bands

00:47:55 - Jimmy Galway and his Belfast Sound

00:53:10 - The playing of flute bands

00:56:55 - The Lisburn Flute Orchestra

00:59:53 - What Flute Bands offer

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