Campbell Naismith was born in Toronto, Canada and began piping at age 8 under the instruction of his father, James. At the age of 11, a lifelong piping nexus was initiated as a student and a colleague of James McColl. Campbell won numerous amateur and professional prizes in the United States and in Scotland, including the United Scottish Societies of Los Angeles’ March, Strathspey, and Reel and Piobaireachd Trophies, the Purgavie Horn for Professional Piobaireachd at the Santa Rosa Games and the Brodick Centenary MSR Cup. Campbell competed for the Silver Medal in Oban, Scotland in 1986. He has a Graduate Certificate from the College of Piping, Glasgow, Scotland, June 1974.

A career of sustained pipe band involvement began in 1964 as Pipe Major of the House of Scotland Junior Pipe Band and continued into the early 1970’s with the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band, winners of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco Grade 1 Pipe Band Championship in Santa Rosa. The three years from 1978 through 1981 were spent as Pipe Major and instructor of the St. Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipes and Drums in Houston, Texas. Campbell traveled and competed with the St. Thomas Band in Scotland and the United States and departed St. Thomas School leaving behind a 100-member pipe band program and three fine grade 3 and grade 4 bands. Subsequently, he returned to California and rejoined the House of Scotland Pipe Band. Under his instruction, this band progressed from Grade 4 beginnings to become established grade 2 and grade 4 powerhouses, which were dominant in Western United States Pipe Band Association competitions in the 1980’s. In 1994, after a 3-year absence from band activities, he joined the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band for a second time. Unbeaten in the United States for several years, the L.A. Scots competed in Scotland in 1994, 1995, and 1996 at the Grade 2 World’s Pipe Band Championship. In 1997, the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band became the first band from the United States to win the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Grade 2 World Championship. Campbell was the Pipe Sergeant of the L. A. Scots at that time and during their first two years in grade 1 competition. The Band finished in eleventh place in the RSPBA grade 1 World Championship in 1999, the highest placing of any U.S. band.

Since leaving the band Campbell has recorded the fine Highland and national dance CD's, Highland Dance Beat and Highland Dance Beat Two, and a CD of his own compositions, CHOONS, which features both big and small pipes accompanied by percussion. In addition, he has composed over two hundred individual bagpipe compositions. To date, he has five published books of pipe music: The Vortex Street Collection, 1996, The Purple Land Collection, 2005, The Forest Leaves Collection, 2015, The Wriggling Fish Collection, 2020, and The Fractal World Collection, 2021 . Additionally, A Salute to Mary Isdale MacNab: Her Collection of Scottish Highland Dances by Marilyn E. Bonner (Pinkie Sutorius) in collaboration with Campbell Naismith was published in 2019. All are available through Vortex Street Music.

In 2023, Joseph MacDonald's A Complete Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe was transcribed into a modern layout with both the text and music typeset reworked electronically into a more accessible format by Campbell. Joseph MacDonald created a collection of piobaireachd and of Gaelic airs at the age of twenty-three which would eventually be published posthumously with the Gaelic Airs in 1784 and the Theory in 1803. This work includes some of the earliest analysis of the structure of bagpipe musical tradition that anyone had ever attempted. The creation of a modern transcription of this work was a long time goal of Campbell's and required hours of tireless work analyzing a copy of Joseph's work coupled with typing all of the words and typesetting the music itself.

Of course, there is much more to piping than competing as a soloist or a band person. There is teaching music, composing music, performing music in non-competitive settings, recording music, research, and adjudicating music. Campbell has taught individuals and bands pipes since the 1960’s; he has over 150 tunes published; he has performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, with Rod Stewart and Eric Burdon, at Disney Studios, and for many weddings, funerals, Highland dance competitions, Burns’ Suppers, and events over a lifetime; he has recorded albums and CD’s both individually, with pipe bands, and other groups of musicians; he is researching the rhythmic and musical relationships between Highland dance and Highland dance music; he is an adjudicator with the Western United States Pipe Band Association.

Campbell is the owner of Vortex Street Music. He is expanding Vortex Street Music’s functions to foster creativity and embrace and share our history while eagerly exploring our future, moving onto philanthropic avenues to benefit composers, performers, researchers, and students in music, dance, and mathematics.