Joy Dunlop is a Gaelic singer & Scottish step-dancer from Argyll who is currently based in Glasgow. Her singing career is the result of a life-long fascination with Scotland’s traditional music and has led her all over the world, starting from early appearances at local cèilidhs as a child. Her performance highlights include major festivals Celtic Connections and Celtic Colours, in addition to touring the UK, Canada and New Zealand. Through her singing, she aims to showcase Gaelic music and song in a contemporary way that will always remain true to its roots.

Faileasan (Reflections) is the follow up to her critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dùsgadh,’ (Awakening); and the result of a personal project to explore and showcase the unique beauty and intricate depths of the local Gaelic song tradition that she inherited growing up in rural Argyll. As Joy states “I feel that often Argyll is somewhat of a forgotten area; people know about the Highlands and islands of Scotland, but maybe don’t realise that Argyll has an exceptionally rich Gaelic cultural heritage. As such, I decided to research traditional Gaelic material from rural Argyll communities and explore new songs that were created from local poetry to reflect the cultural heritage of the area.”

Joy wasn’t thinking of making an album at this point, she was more interested in researching Argyll’s local culture, a passion of hers. She was lucky enough to spend time in the archives of the School of Scottish Studies, and to trawl through old books and manuscripts to see what she could find. When she realised that she had a wealth of unheard material, she decided to undertake a concert tour in the area, showcasing the songs in the areas from which they derived. Through the success of this, the thought of an album appeared and it seemed the logical next step.

The material for Joy is the real focus of the album and she has made it as authentic as possible – every aspect of the album is sourced from the area – from the songs and musicians, to the CD design, photography and even the studio recording. The album itself was recorded at An Tobar on the Isle Of Mull, in the very room where Martyn Bennett created his masterpieces.

In doing this, Joy hoped to both provide employment for local businesses whilst supporting local enterprise (Argyll is heavily reliant on tourism) and prove that you can create high quality products in rural areas. She also succeeded in featuring the wealth of musical talent that has come from Argyll and collaborated with an array of its most famous exports, including Donald Shaw, Aidan O’ Rourke, Karen Matheson, Lorne MacDougall, Sorren Maclean, Rona Wilkie and her brother Andrew. Joy is heavily involved with Gaelic choirs in her spare time, so enlisted them for backing vocals, ensuring that Faileasan is a genuinely true showcase of west coast heritage, past and present.

Source: Joy Dunlop