Drummer keeps rolling on

Quentin Hicks. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Quentin Hicks. Photo by Linda Robertson.
A 90-year-old RSA Taieri Pipe Band drummer has no plans to stop beating the rhythm.

Quentin Hicks, the oldest member in the band, celebrated his birthday earlier this month.

A beat was as easy to maintain as it ever was, he said.

''If you've got in you, it just seems to flow out.''

He had been playing in pipe bands since 1946 and joined the Taieri band in 2005 and performed in rest-homes and at functions.

''We just did a stint at the Octagon Club at Age Concern Otago.''

About eight musicians gathered for a performance and some came from Middlemarch and Milton to play.

Born and raised on a Taranaki dairy farm, he moved to Auckland, after meeting his future wife, and worked as a cabinetmaker and builder.

After his wife died in 2004, he moved to Dunedin the following year, to live with his son Wayne Hicks (53), who has Parkinson's, and his son's dog G.

''I was roaming around a big house and he was living on his own with his old English sheepdog.''

The band was struggling to recruit younger players and he had no plans to quit.

''I'm going to go as long as I can. I really enjoy it. I love the music.''

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