ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The bright lights beat down on the field. The crowd roars as the players exit. 

The field awaits its next team – the marching band. It’s April Skye’s turn to step on the field. 

“I get nervous, shaky. I think I'm gonna mess up,” Skye said. “Once I start playing it all goes away, and I just focus on what I'm doing.” 

When the nerves come, she clutches her bagpipes close, close to her heart as well.

“It’s not just me, it’s her that helps me play,” Skye said.

Skye is a student at A.C. Reynolds High School.  

“I’m Scottish and Irish, and I feel like it’s cool because I didn't just pick up a random instrument that I thought was cool, but it’s also a part of my heritage,” Skye said. 

The band made numerous changes this year for its performance. Skye made some individual changes, as well.

“What I’m playing right now is a B, but to match the whole band it would have to be a B-flat,” Skye said. “I had to go and buy a special chantor for it and extenders for the drone so they would match the tone of the band.” 

The performance incorporates instruments similar to those heard in bluegrass music.

The bagpipes date back as far as 1600s in North Carolina, according to the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, when settlers from Ireland, Scotland and England settled in the state.

“When you think of a marching band, the uniforms, the instruments, they are usually original, but since there are different things that you can incorporate to it, it kind of opens my eyes,” Skye said. 

She fell in love with the instrument around 5 years old. Around a decade of learning and practicing later, she will be performing with the band at three competitions this year representing A.C. Reynolds and Buncombe County Schools. 

Her family says it hasn’t been an easy journey.

“When they saw me out there, I felt like it all went away – all their fears and worries that I would just give up,” Skye said.

They see her not only spread the sounds of the instrument, but her connection to it as well.