Davy Spillane's first encounter with the uilleann pipes was not one you would call glamorous. It had no immediate, profound effect on him. And he didn't overflow with passion the first time he laid hands on the pipes. Instead, his initial experience with the instrument that would some day bring him fame came more from chance than any divine calling.
'I never really had great passion for it at first,' Spillane tells Young Post. 'I started playing the whistle, like those flageolet whistles, then I moved on to the uilleann pipes [pronounced illan] ... out of curiosity, really.'
Spillane has not given up playing the whistle. He still keeps one on stage with him all the time. Not to take anything away from his skill with a whistle, but Spillane wasn't dubbed the official piper to the stars by blowing hot air out of his mouth.
The uilleann pipes are a highly evolved instrument with deep roots in Irish traditions. Along with the Irish harp, they are the national instruments of Ireland.
'The pipes have their origins in the bagpipes,' Spillane explains. 'Uilleann is the Irish word for elbow, so they are elbow pipes. Basically they are like an oboe, and sound similar, except the air is blown from a bag [by squeezing the elbow towards the body] rather than by mouth.'
Like any artist, Spillane displays an intense bond with his instrument. For him, it is even deeper since he makes and fine-tunes his whistles and pipes himself.