Joe Wilson was, from the age of 8 until 18 years, a pupil of the late Pipe Major James Robertson who was well known for his composition ‘Farewell to the Creeks.’ He then enlisted in the British Army and received further tuition from Pipe Major Calum Campbell. In 1958 he was posted to Aberdeen and received further tuition over the period of a year from Pipe Major Donald Macleod.
During 1959/1960 he attended a Pipe Major’s course at Edinburgh Castle, Pipe Major (Later Captain) John MacLellan’s first such course. The playing requirements set by John MacLellan for successfully completing the course was 12 pieces of each category of music, Piobaireachd, Marches, Strathspeys, Reels, Hornpipes and Jigs. Further tuition, mainly in piobaireachd, was given by Pipe Major Robert B Nicol at Balmoral. During this time he competed as an individual and was in the prize list at both Oban and Inverness and other venues. He left the army as a Pipe Major after 9 years service and joined the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band then under the charge of Pipe Major Donald Shaw Ramsay.
In 1967 he joined the Glasgow Police for about two years with Ronald Lawrie as Pipe Major. He was for about 12 years a member of British Caledonian Airways Pipe Band but he gave up playing in bands about 6 years ago. He has been a tutor at the College of Piping for the past 5 years or so.