FDNY paramedic attracts Central Park fans with his outdoor bagpiping
15.03.2024 - 20:51
/ nypost.com
Lt. Robert Walsh, a bagpiper and FDNY paramedic, typically plays funerals and memorials, but those who enjoy the sound of the woodwind instrument can also catch him in a more convivial setting. He regularly practices in Central Park along the west side of the 102nd Street Transverse, where he draws in droves of fans.
“[I] get people who will take a picture or take a video,” Walsh, a key member of the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums band, told The Post. “Or I get people who will clap and come up to me as I’m playing a tune,” he said. “They always say there’s some connection to their family or that the sound reminds them of something.”This weekend, he and the band are looking forward to another uplifting venue: New York City’s St.
Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday. “We get to play the happier tunes,” said the 55-year-old who will perform military medleys and traditional Irish melodies such as “Robin Adair” and “The Rowan Tree” while wearing a dress jacket, Glengarry hat and kilts.“It’s like the prom,” Walsh told The Post. “We all get dressed up fancy and everyone takes our picture.
It’s a lot of fun.” Walsh, who joined the FDNY in 2000 and worked nightmarish 16-hour shifts at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11, wasn’t always a musical talent who attracted packs of spectators. He never picked up an instrument as a child, but he was drawn to performing and joined the FDNY band when it launched in 2006. “I had no musical talent,” he admitted.Walsh always enjoyed the unmistakable sound of the bagpipes, which brought him some comfort during many memorials he attended in the wake of 9/11, but they’re not an instrument for novices.
So, he started with the drums. “I was a snare drummer for 16 years,” he said proudly. During the
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