ASK Robyn McKay if she’s ever fallen out of love with piping, and she just laughs.

“When I was at Park Mains school (in Erskine) there was a lot of pipers in the area that I was in the band with or was friends with,” she replies.

READ MORE: Could Glasgow's 'Golden Z' be gone forever thanks to Sauchiehall Street's deterioration?

“So I’d see them at school and then on Monday and Wednesday nights at band, and I never thought there wasn’t anything cool about piping. I was the only female piper at the school, and that seemed pretty cool to me, too.”

Now the 19-year-old is one of the fresh faces of piping, performing at various events as the week-long Piping Live jamboree takes over Glasgow next week.

This year the bash will feature, as always, the world championships at Glasgow Green a week on Saturday (August 13) while other events include the Red Hot Chilli Pipers at the O2 ABC and a gig by Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton, who’ll commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Gordon Duncan.

Robyn works at the National Piping Centre and will be right in the thick of things even when not performing, with workshops, free gigs and other events taking place all week long. It’s a surreal experience for the teenager, who had her first piping lessons at the centre 13 years ago.

This isn’t a case of following in any family footsteps, though.

“My family aren’t musical in the slightest,” she laughs.

“My mum and dad took me to the musical tattoo in Edinburgh when I was three and I absolutely loved it – they got me a wee tape to listen to on my Fisher Price cassette player and I’d be marching around the house listening to it!

“We also went to the Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon, and I’d watch the pipers marching down the street and say that I wanted to be one of them. So for my sixth birthday my parents got me lessons at the piping centre. That seemed to trigger something, because I can’t imagine life without piping now – I think my parents have been as surprised as anyone else at everything.”

READ MORE: Could Glasgow's 'Golden Z' be gone forever thanks to Sauchiehall Street's deterioration?

She’s since studied at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton in the Highlands, has played with the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland and is currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire. For her Piping Live bow she’s assembled a bunch of pals, from school, other bands and university, to help her perform.

She’s not taking the straightforward path, either. Monday’s shows will see Robyn and friends play a host of original material, rather than covers of established tunes.

“I didn’t want to be a clone of somebody, I want to add something new to the scene,” she says.

“The slot is for emerging talent, so I didn’t want to be up there playing something that people had heard before. I’ve also written a couple of songs, one of which is to The Sleeping Tune by Gordon Duncan, which is very well known.

“I’ve changed the meaning of the tune with the lyrics, which I know is risky – I can’t wait for people to either love it or hate it!”

Robyn’s used to standing out from the crowd, though. She was the only female piper in her area when she first started out, but that was something she feels she relished more than anything else.

“It obviously gets you a wee bit more publicity,” she says.

“There was always a thing growing up of wanting to be better than the boys and not be seen as a weak link. Sometimes people might be like ‘oh, you’re not an old bearded piper!’ but the stereotypes have got less and less over the years.

“When I’m playing at weddings nowadays a lot of people have quite liked that I’m not a stereotypical looking piper, and I don’t think I’ve ever been unfairly scrutinised because of my gender.”

Now she’s prepared for Piping Live, with performances at the Street Café (1pm), George Square (3.30pm) and the Festival Club (10pm) all lined up for Monday.

“It’s pretty surreal to be playing my own show,” she adds.

READ MORE: Could Glasgow's 'Golden Z' be gone forever thanks to Sauchiehall Street's deterioration?

“Piping Live is absolutely massive – like Celtic Connections we’re so fortunate to have a festival like it in Glasgow.”

Robyn plays at Piping Live!, which runs Monday August 8 to Sunday August 14. More information at www.pipinglive.co.uk