Name any of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it's a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them.  Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher's Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle: a veritable who's who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle’s signature guitar sound, singing, or songwriting is essential.   

Born into a musical family in Dublin, John’s influences include well-known English folk singers Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, and the Watersons; Scottish singers Dick Gaughan and John Martin; and fellow Irishmen Paul Brady and Al O’Donnell as well as his father, Sean Doyle, probably the biggest influence of all. John went on the road as a pro at 16 with the group Chanting House which he formed with Susan McKeown and which eventually included such great players as Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, and Donogh Hennessy.  John went on to form the highly acclaimed super group, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey, and Winifred Horan, which took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements. As a member of Solas, John performed to sold out audiences nationally and internationally and appeared on many national TV and radio programs: NBC’s The Today Show, various programs for National Public Radio and Public Radio International, A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, E-Town, and World Cafe as part of that critically acclaimed group, he also received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination for the band’s self-titled first recording.

After leaving Solas, John has gone on to perform and tour with other greats in the folk, Celtic, and bluegrass worlds—as music director for folk icon Joan Baez, guitarist for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eileen Ivers, Tim O’Brien (John was included on Tim’s 2006 Grammy-award winning CD, Fiddler’s Green), Linda Thompson, Kate Rusby, Cathie Ryan, Cherish the Ladies, and many others. He has appeared on soundtracks for the feature film, The Brothers McMullan, Soldier, and PBS’s Out of Ireland and he composed the music for the film Uncle Robert’s Footsteps and the play Down the Flats as well as performing on countless recordings as guitarist and/or singer for other notable artists such as Kate Rusby, Linda Thompson, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, Mick Moloney, Cathal McConnell, Karan Casey and so many others. John has been a featured regular for many years in the hugely popular BBC Scotland Transatlantic Sessions, regularly broadcast in Ireland, and at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, having performed there with Americana greats Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Rodney Crowell, Sara Watkins, Kathy Mattea, and many others.  

In recent years, John has focused primarily on writing songs based on the varied experiences of Irish emigrants—his great grandfather on the torpedoed S.S. Arabic in 1915; famine victims on the coffin ships to Quebec; Confederate and Union Irish fighting against one another at Fredericksburg; an Irishman’s journey through the First World War. In reviews, these songs on Doyle’s 2012 release, "Shadow and Light" have been said "to be destined to be classics in the Irish folk music songbook. His talents as a songwriter are rare and exquisite." 

• Irish Guitar