Doyle, John
Arts & Entertainment
Born in 1971 in Dublin to a family of musicians and singers, John Doyle was surrounded by traditional music from his earliest years. His father Sean is a remarkable singer and collector of songs, with a vast repertoire of traditional ballads committed to memory. Tommy Doyle, John's County Sligo grandfather, taught him his first instrumental tunes. Two of his three brothers are musicians, as are various uncles, cousins, and other family members.
John was playing professionally by the age of 16, and soon moved to New York City where he began playing with Eileen Ivers and Seamus Egan. He first rose to international prominence with Solas (Gaelic for "light"), the all-star Irish/American band whose emergence heralded the arrival of a new generation of bold, inventive traditional musicians. The mighty original Solas lineup of Doyle (whose guitar playing was both the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of the band's relentlessly high-energy sound), John Williams (accordion), Winifred Horan (fiddle), Karan Casey (vocals), and Seamus Egan (banjo, flutes, pipes) recorded four immensely influential albums before Doyle left the group to seek a solo career. His latest album, "Wayward Son," Doyle's second solo release on Compass Records, showcases the guitarist's genius for arrangement. Now an accomplished producer as well, Doyle has worked with such artists as Liz Carroll and Heidi Talbot.
Doyle, who currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife Cathy Peterson, continues to innovate, finding the seeds of his contemporary approach within the tradition itself.
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