John Doyle is one of the most talented and innovative musicians to come out of Ireland in recent years. Now a resident of Asheville (North Carolina), John Doyle was born in 1971 in Dublin, Ireland, into an extended family of musicians and singers. He was playing professionally by the age of 16 when he and singer Susan McKeown joined to form The Chanting House, which later added the prodigious talents of Seamus Egan and Eileen Ivers to the group.
A few years later, John and Egan came together with John Williams, the wonderfully inventive accordion player from Chicago, talented fiddler Winifred Horan, and Waterford-born singer Karan Casey, to form the enormously influential band, Solas.
John’s powerful guitar playing provided the signature rhythmic backbone for the band, and his delicate and emotional finger-style playing and creative vocal harmonies can be heard on all Solas’ recordings for Shanachie Records. Solas performed to sold-out audiences around the world, appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, E-Town and World Cafe, and received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination.
John composed music for the film Uncle Robert’s Footsteps and the play Down the Flats, and appears on the soundtracks for The Brothers McMullen, Soldier and PBS’s Out of Ireland. He has performed at scores of major festivals worldwide, including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, Washington Irish Festival, Milwaukee Irish Festival and major festivals in Denmark, Belgium, Brittany, England, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Finland and Ireland.
John is also a highly sought-after sideman and has recorded and/or toured with Liz Carroll, Eileen Ivers, Tim O’Brien and The Crossing, Frank McCourt, Linda Thompson, Kate Rusby, Mick Moloney, John Williams, Seamus Egan, Cathal McConnell, Kim Robertson, Brian Conway, Joannie Madden, James Keane, Joe McKenna, Karan Casey, Cathie Ryan and James Leva.
John’s much anticipated first solo recording, Evening Comes Early, was released on Shanachie Records in 2001, and his second solo CD Wayward Son was released in 2004 on Compass Records.
Doyle has continued to hone his craft on the road and in the studio, earning a Grammy nomination for his collaboration with fiddler Liz Carroll in 2010 on Double Play (Compass Records).
On Shadow and Light Doyle pays tribute to Irish musical tradition while forging a path of his own on a set of largely original songs characterized by his rhythmic and harmonic genius. History and stories pervade the album’s eleven tracks from the first lyrics of the album opener “Clear the Way” – a translation from the old Gaelic “Faugh A Ballagh” which was the rallying cry of the Irish Brigade in the American Civil War. The song tells the story of the “Fighting 69th,” and their tragic battle at Fredricksburg, Virginia where their numbers were reduced from over 1600 to less than 300 by another predominantly Irish Confederate Regiment.
Another stand out track is “The Arabic,” named for the ship Doyle’s grandfather boarded to immigrate to America. A German submarine attacked the SS Arabic, and Doyle’s grandfather was plucked out of the flotsam by a rescue boat and sent back to Ireland. “It’s all true, as far as I know,” said Doyle.
Another family ode, “Tribute to Donal Ward/ The Curraghman” is an instrumental homage to Doyle’s rustic uncle Donal Ward and serves as the perfect showcase for Doyle’s virtuosic finger picking style. Family is a recurring theme; the album also includes “Little Sparrow,” a song for Doyle’s daughter that has been regularly featured in his live set.
Throughout the album Doyle is accompanied by a cast of some of the most stellar players in acoustic music including Tim O’Brien (vocals, mandolin), Alison Brown (banjo), Kenny Malone (percussion), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Todd Phillips (bass), John Williams (accordion), Pete Grant (lap steel) and Michael McGoldrick (uillean pipes and flute).
Discography
* Solas, with Solas (Shanachie Records, 1996)
* Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers, with Solas (Shanachie Records, 1997)
* The Words That Remain, with Solas (Shanachie Records, 1998)
* The Hour Before Dawn, with Solas (Shanachie Records, 2000)
* Evening Comes Early (Shanachie, 2001)
* Wayward Son (Compass Records, 2004)
* In Play, with Liz Carroll (Compass Records, 2005)
* Double Play, with Liz Carroll (Compass Records, 2009)
* Turning Tide, with Solas (Compass Records, 2010)
* Exiles Return, with Karan Casey (Compass Records, 2010)
* Shadow and Light (Compass Records, 2011)
* Live, with Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker (Vertical Records, 2012), recorded on the 2009 tour
* Ushers Island, with Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, Mike McGoldrick (Vertical Records, 2017)
* The Wishing Tree, with John McCusker, Mike McGoldrick (Under One Sky Records, 2018)
* The Path Of Stones (Compass Records, 2020)
* The Reed That Bends In The Storm (Under One Sky Records, 2020)
Videos
* Irish Rhythm Guitar: Accompanying Celtic Tunes (Homespun Tapes, 2004)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
updated discography