Biography

Joan MacKenzie was born in Shader, Lewis, on the 2nd of September 1929. While at Aird School, Joan’s teacher, Ciorstag Mhòr, or Miss Murray as the children would call her, took her to her first ever local Mod. She won first place, which came as no surprise to anyone except perhaps to Joan herself. As she said on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal 31/12/2002:

"It’s hard to hear yourself that you have a good singing voice. You must rely on other people that tell you that you have a good voice. They might not say it directly, but you’ll be asked to sing. I remember, when the boys came home on leave, or anything like that, I’d always be sitting on someone’s knee, singing."

Joan attended the Nicolson Institute. After that, she attended Jordanhill College in Glasgow, where she trained to be a teacher and spent many a night at the ceilidhs in Overnewton. She returned to Lewis to teach and began singing in the Stornoway Gaelic Choir. She sang with them at the Edinburgh Mòd in 1951, and the following year, the choir's conductor, John MacSween from Scalpay, convinced her to sing solo. When Joan received the Gold Medal in 1955 in Inverness from Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, she was very pleased:

"I knew I didn’t have to compete again! I didn’t really enjoy the competitions. I would get so nervous, and I couldn’t sleep. I would be thinking about how I was singing, instead of thinking about the song itself. Instead of thinking about the meaning of the song, I’d be overthinking how well I was singing it, and no matter how much I wanted to stop, I couldn’t help it. I entered for the Gold Medal because I was in the choir, and that’s what everyone did - it was the fashion. But I was much more interested in the songs I learned from people or other places than in competing."

Joan spent most of her life in Edinburgh, where she and her husband Rory ran a wine shop. Joan was a wine expert. Over the years, she worked extensively with James Ross [406] at the School of Scottish Studies and made many Gaelic programs for the BBC. James would provide her with recordings of songs he had made for her to learn and perform on programs, as he was not allowed to use his own recordings. Joan explained:

"At that time, they didn’t think they were ‘suitable’ for broadcasting on the BBC. I, and I’m sure many others, learned those songs and sang them, because our voices were younger and more ‘fitting’."

Joan learned many of the songs James had recorded from Nan MacKinnon (Nan Eachainn Fhionnlaigh) [1864] from Barra, and she was thrilled to meet Nan: "James brought her to Edinburgh, and we took her around everywhere." Joan also knew the Barra singer, Donald Joseph MacKinnon [519], and learned some of his songs. She enjoyed visiting Uist, Benbecula, and Barra.

Among the many people Joan learned songs from, the Reverend William Matheson [482] was particularly notable, though at times, difficult. "We’d meet once a fortnight, and he’d arrive at half past nine at night. He’d have his supper, but it was terribly difficult to feed him. He wasn’t easy to please at all! But, he’d come around half past nine and would sometimes be there until half six in the morning." With her son’s help, she would record songs from William, learning about their history and the language used in them. As he said to her many a time. "You sit, and you listen, and you ask the questions."

Joan would also broadcast live on BBC Radio, with Ewen MacPhee: "When he thought I was going too slow, he’d stretch his arm to the right. And when he thought I was going too fast, he’d move his arm to the left. And it worked as well as anything else. And I finished at the right time!"

Joan was full of fun and humour, and no one laughed more than she did when Fred MacAuley invited her to make a series of television programs. "Lose weight," Fred said, "and get a group together!" She did, and her group, The Edinburgh Singers [11360], comprising Joan herself, Evelyn Campbell [9348], Mary Sandeman [6773] and Iona MacDonald [7237], were very successful. As Joan herself said, "We managed!".

Joan MacKenzie passed away on the 13th May 2007.