Robert Macdonald began playing the bagpipes fourteen years ago. He learned from Pipe Major emeritus Dennis McMaster and has performed and competed with the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band all around Utah, the western United States and even Canada. No longer a competitive piper, he now devotes his time to traditional Scottish and Irish folk music. In addition to the bagpipes he plays Irish flute, tenor banjo, tin whistle and guitar. He is the founder of the Salt Lake City-based, Scottish folk band Pennyland. He is a songwriter and composer of many bagpipes and fiddle tunes. He holds a Master's degree in folklore from Utah State University where he studied folk music specializing in Cape Breton piping and tune composition.