Joy Dunlop on her unconventional journey into world of trad music

When an old man stopped her as she was leaving a rehearsal for her Gaelic men’s choir in Oban, Joy Dunlop was knackered.

She had been up since 3am for work and knew she wouldn’t be back home before 11pm. What he said made it all worth it though.

“He wanted to tell me that singing in the choir gave him something to live for,” said Joy.

“He was in his 80s and he was retired, so he didn’t see people that often. I do Gaelic things for work, but the choral stuff I do for fun and it has become one of my favourite things.

“That might mean long days, but I have never regretted it. We are working on something together and that invigorates me.”

Joy’s Gaelic journey

If you watch Joy presenting the weather on BBC, spot her handing out awards at the Royal National Mòd, or listen to one of her many albums, it might shock you to know that she wasn’t born into a family of Gaelic speakers.

“When I was nine, the Mòd came to Oban and children in the area were encouraged to take part in it – I’m from Connel,” explained Joy.

“We had a woman from Islay who was a native speaker and she said if anyone would like to compete she would teach us. We had a wee choir, I think it must have been pretty much the whole school.

“That was my first understanding of Gaelic. We didn’t have it in primary and I didn’t have it in the family.”

Joy Dunlop says, as a non-native speaker, she was drawn to the Gaelic language from a young age.

The more she learned, the more she enjoyed it, but even as she grew older, Joy didn’t see Gaelic as something she could build a career around.

She said: “When I went to secondary school, everyone had to do French then we chose between Gaelic and German.

“Back then, which is not that long ago, it wasn’t seen as a career option, so I didn’t think of it as one; the assumption was that it wasn’t for me because I didn’t naturally have Gaelic.

“Instead of sixth year I went to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, then I was going to go and study medicine. But something just clicked for me and I ended up not leaving.

“I did a whole degree and I have been involved with Gaelic in some way ever since.”

Career in Gaelic

Joy went on to work in Gaelic language and culture development. As the only person working in her area, with no budget, she was able to take on whatever challenge she set herself.

Hooked on the freedom, she eventually went freelance, taking on work in TV and radio, hosting, the music industry and more.

“A lot of people ask ‘what are you?’ in terms of my job and they want me to be one thing,” said Joy.

“But I have never been one thing and have always felt really lucky in that. I never want to be put in a box.

“Gaelic is a really useful skill and you pick up all these other skills as a result. If you are happy to put in the leg work and make things happen, there are opportunities out there.”

Though Joy’s calendar is now full of events, festivals, talks, choir rehearsals, gigs, recording and more, it hasn’t always been easy to find work.

Joy said: “When I started, it was hard. People didn’t know who I was and the Gaelic world is a small one – everyone knows everyone. I came from the mainland and from a non-Gaelic family.

“I graduated [as] the most enthusiastic person you could ever meet and all of a sudden, I encountered folk who said I wasn’t a Gael and said I couldn’t do it.

“You either react to that by letting it sink in and you stop, or by saying ‘I’ll show you’. If I know I can do something, I want to show people I can do it. I still get people trying to pull the authenticity card and saying they are more traditional than me, but I can’t do anything about that.

“I can’t help where I came from, but I can be as good as I can be. I can listen, learn and take feedback.

“I will be learning to the day I die, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.”

Celebrating the language

Joy’s unconventional path to Gaelic is the inspiration for today’s Rebellious Truth talk at Edinburgh Tradfest; No Wrong Path: A Gaelic Learning Journey.

She hopes it will encourage others to learn Gaelic. One way she suggests doing that is through music.

“Learning any language is so daunting at first,” said Joy.

“Music is a universal language. We’re a bit more used to listening to songs in a different language – we sing along even if we aren’t sure what the artist is saying.

“Nowadays it is so easy to access music, and I think through that there is more exploration of new genres like trad music.

“I grew up learning all the really traditional Gaelic songs, but at home I was boogying away to pop. The fact you can now combine the two and play around with the culture and heritage while still respecting it is so healthy to me.

“If you go into a conversation and everyone is speaking a language you don’t understand, you are automatically barred.

“If you go to a festival, it doesn’t matter, you can still jump around and enjoy being part of an experience with other people. It’s the community, the friendships, the experience.

“Music is so good for the soul.”

Through the generations

With a huge range of ages in her Gaelic choirs, Joy said she has noticed a real difference in the younger generations taking more of an interest in their culture and heritage.

In her eyes, overcoming the barrier of fear when it comes to learning something new is the first step in discovering a whole new sense of community.

“Learning from scratch as an adult makes you feel very off-kilter because it’s something you can’t do,” said Joy.

“But you have to get past that really awkward panic when you don’t know what to say and your mind goes blank. If you can, it is hugely rewarding. You don’t have to be a singer or a Gaelic speaker to join a Gaelic choir, it’s just about coming together and singing with other people. The physicality of raising your voice with someone else is good for every part of you.

“No one is going to die if you make a mistake, no one is going to laugh at you. I think for years we have not been very good as Scots; it’s not natural for us to self-promote, it makes us feel uncomfortable.

“I did trad music at school and I was very much in the minority, it was not seen as a cool thing.

“All of a sudden, people are realising it is cool to be speaking Gaelic and doing trad music.

“I think the community element is so strong, but also in general Scottish identity is just getting better.

“We are more proud of our language, our heritage, our culture than ever.”

Scottish pride in the USA

There may still be work to do to encourage Scots to shout about their heritage and culture, but in the meantime, Joy said plenty of people are doing it for them.

“I am just back from Tartan Week in New York,” she said.

“It’s the third time I have been over and I think there is something unbelievably special about it, the parade in particular. When you are going down Fifth Avenue and there are pipe bands and kilts; it is almost like an Americanised Scottish celebration.

“The first time I did it, people were laughing watching me because I was the most excited person there has ever been in a parade, waving my little flag and wearing my tartan. Never would I think of parading down Oban high street – it’s not the kind of thing we do – but it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be in this huge multicultural city.

“We had a spot there that was ours, we were being highlighted and promoted. I think we all do it, I am definitely more Scottish when I am not in Scotland.”

She added: “I think those of us speaking Gaelic are often scared to say ‘this is us’ because it used to mean we were poor, or from the countryside and not civilised enough – we were so much the underdog.

“But we are good enough. You now see things like Harris Tweed on the catwalk. What we produce is beautiful and world-class.”

Joy’s Rebellious Truth talk will take place at Traverse Theatre from 2pm today or live stream for free on YouTubeYouTube

Find out more at edinburghtradfest.com