Steve Sutherland
Associate Faculty
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Steve Sutherland began pipe band drumming in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, in 1974 studying under Eddie Asten, David Wonsey and Tim Gladden. From 1976 through 1979, Steve was Assistant Instructor under Tim Gladden at the School of Scottish Arts in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Since then, he has received tuition from J. Reid Maxwell, Jim Kilpatrick, Tom Key and Jon Quigg.

Steve joined the Minnesota Pipes and Drums in May of 1992 and was elected Drum Sergeant in October of that year. During this time, he helped to take the band through Grade IV and into Grade III. In September of 2000 he was invited to become the Drumming Instructor and Drum Sergeant of the Macalester College Pipe Band under new Pipe Major Mike Breidenbach.

Under Steve’s tenure, the band has gone from Grade IV to the top of Grade III. He started with a very small corps and has built it into the current crop of ten snares, five tenors and two bass players in two bands. There are also many up and coming students who will fill the ranks in coming years. The band has won numerous best drum corps and best bass section awards over the last few years, and produced several prize winning soloists.

Steve competes in Grade I snare solos and has been the MWPBA Champion Supreme in that grade for the past two years. He teaches private lessons along with his duties as Drumming Instructor for the college, where he teaches any Macalester Students who wish to learn Scottish drumming. In his real life, he is a single Dad with two kids. He supports them by working as a mortgage broker.