Left to right: Duan’s Laura Penman (keyboard), Iris MacLeod (vocals), Calum Murray (accordion), Tawana Maramba (vocals), Martha Cunniffe (clàrsach) and Finlay Lawson (guitar).
This article was originally published in 'Discover' magazine, issue 49, winter 2023.
Words: Leanne McGrath.
Meet the young Scottish band bringing traditional music to new audiences.
It is a bright and crisp early autumn evening in a city park, dappled sunlight filtering through tree leaves that are clinging on to their summer greenery before the seasonal browns and golds take hold. Dog walkers amble past, along with students on their way up the hill to the university, breathless joggers, black-clad skateboarders and smiling families out for a stroll.
All stop in their tracks to listen when the breeze carries in a gentle, lilting Gaelic song that is as heartfelt and melodious as it is skillfully performed.
Following the music to its source reveals an impromptu performance by young band Duan (Gaelic for a little ditty or song), who also delighted guests at the launch of our dual language exhibition 'Sgeul | Story: Folktales from the Scottish Highlands' earlier this year – a set hailed as "magical" by National Librarian Amina Shah.
The group is due to play at the Library again in February for another event linked to the exhibition, about 19th-century folklorist John Francis Campbell, which runs until April.
They were ideal to help us launch 'Sgeul | Story', not only because they play and sing beautifully, but because the exhibition invites visitors to hear and learn about folktales told for centuries in Gaelicspeaking areas of Scotland – stories that Duan help keep alive and share through their performances.
The band – pianist Laura Penman, 21; guitarist Finlay Lawson, 22; clàrsach player Martha Cunniffe, 22; accordionist Calum Murray, 21; and vocalists Tawana Maramba, 21, and Iris MacLeod, 21 – met at Tollcross Primary School in Edinburgh. Each of them has won a string of competitions and accolades in the years since.
"We'd always done a lot of Gaelic music at school," Laura said. "It was Gaelic medium, so we didn't really do any English music. We started just doing what we knew. We didn't always play as a band but came back together for a competition at the Mòd in 2019.
"As much as it was a hobby before that, we all really enjoyed it and thought it was something we'd want to take more seriously at some point, so it felt like a natural progression."
They have been playing together ever since, juggling performing with university. Finlay and Martha recently graduated from the University of Glasgow, in Gaelic and Computing (what he jokingly described as "that classic combination") and Gaelic and History, respectively, and Finlay is now taking music classes for a year at Skye's Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture. Tawana is studying English Literature and Linguistics at Glasgow and Iris is studying History at Glasgow, while Calum is studying Gaelic at the University of Edinburgh. Laura is studying traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
All of them have taught at and are involved in the Edinburgh Fèis. "Lots of us went there too, so it's nice to come full circle and teach there," Laura added.
When they spoke to 'Discover', they were preparing to perform at a ceilidh as part of this year's Mòd in Paisley, held from 13–21 October. "We're helping out and some other people are performing as well," said Tawana. "It's not part of the competitions."
Given the prestige of the Mòd, do they feel nervous?
"Performing in a group means you've got less nerves," said Calum.
"We all know each other and feel comfortable with each other," added Laura. "So it just feels like we're going and playing some tunes on stage."
"But it depends how prepared we are," laughed Iris. "I get scared of getting the giggles."
"Our greatest weakness," added Finlay, as they all burst into those giggles.
Performing Gaelic music and keeping Scotland's traditional songs alive is important to the band. Even though they are all from the Central Belt, many of their parents and grandparents come from the Highlands and Islands and they are keen to preserve and share that heritage.
"There's definitely more bands that come from the Highlands and Islands that sing in Gaelic but there's an audience for it everywhere and there's a lot of Gaelic happening, you just have to find the places," said Laura. "There's a lot of Gaelic in Glasgow and Edinburgh now through schools, it's become a new hub. Hopefully that will continue."
"Gaelic has always been such a big part of our lives," added Tawana. "It's important to us to use it."
"Gaelic and music have always been very connected for us," said Iris. "Probably the reason I kept on with Gaelic was doing the music."
While they would not rule out giving a Bowie or Beatles pop hit a traditional Gaelic makeover, the band is more keen to find older Gaelic songs and poems that have been lost, forgotten or rarely performed and bring those to a new audience.
"We really enjoy bringing our own style to the traditional Gaelic song and changing it up a bit, so taking those older songs and adding a bit of what we like and modernising them a little, bringing them to another audience," said Laura.
"We try to do that with all the songs we play," added Finlay.
Favourites to perform include the Puirt-a-Beul (mouth music). "It's faster and has some energy," said Laura. "It's quite funky," added Finlay.
"We'll try to write some of our own music in the future, definitely," Finlay said. "We all have a passion for the Gaelic community and music community," added Laura. "We like to show other people how much we enjoy that."
None of the band members feel quite enough is being done to promote and preserve Gaelic and Scots languages, although things are improving.
"There are a lot of good things being done but more is needed, definitely," said Finlay.
"Even if it's not fully through Gaelic medium education, just once a week teaching kids some Gaelic, that would be good," added Calum.
"Me and Martha were teaching Gaelic in English-speaking schools," Iris said. "Gaelic teaching and songs with them. The music makes it more fun."
"You get more culture from the music than if you're just taught the language," Martha added.
"Gaelic and Scots are the history of Scotland, so it's confusing why they weren't always taught in schools. But things are being done about it, just not enough."
"A lot of regional Gaelic has already been lost," Finlay said. "There would have been dialects in Perthshire and Easter Ross and various other places but I don't think there are any speakers any more, when there would have been maybe 50 years ago.
"So it's important to keep what we do have, to make sure that the Gaelic medium education we do have is not just about getting as many people doing it as possible but that the quality is high."
'Sgeul | Story: Folktales from the Scottish Highlands' is open at George IV Bridge until April. Entry is free. Watch a video on Facebook of Duan performing.