Doyle Lawson

Doyle Lawson
Doyle Lawson (left) and his band harmonize during the 2006 NEA National Heritage Fellows concert.
Background information
Born	April 20, 1944 (1944-04-20) (age 67) Sullivan County, Tennessee
Genres	Bluegrass, gospel
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Mandolin
Years active	1977–present
Website	www.doylelawson.com

Doyle Lawson (born April 20, 1944) is an American bluegrass and gospel musician. Doyle is best known as an accomplished mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 5-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

Biography

Doyle Lawson was born in Ford Town, Sullivan County, Tennessee, near Kingsport, the son of Leonard and Minnie Lawson. The Lawson family moved to Sneedville, Tennessee in 1954, around the time that Doyle acted upon his love for music.

Doyle grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. This is where he became inspired by Bill Monroe, the "founding father" of bluegrass, and his band the Blue Grass Boys. His own instrumental piece, "Rosine," is a tribute to Monroe's birthplace and features, among other things, strains from the singer's 1967 instrumental "Kentucky Mandolin."

Doyle became interested in playing the mandolin around the age of eleven so his father borrowed a mandolin from Willis Byrd, a family friend and fellow musician. Doyle taught himself how to play the mandolin by listening to the radio and records, and watching an occasional TV show. His love for music grew and Doyle decided to learn to play the guitar and banjo as well.

Doyle’s perseverance and hard work style has shown through over forty albums since 1977 and through his band’s schedule, which includes over sixty concerts in one year. His hard work and high expectations for his band seem kind of humorous to some with Doyle’s recollection of one practice when he "instructed each member to go to a separate room in the house and continue singing. If the individual members were no longer in pitch when they rejoined their leader, they'd start over again. ‘Of course, they thought I was crazy,’ he told John Wooley in Tulsa World, ‘but I told 'em that if it'd work for the banjo, it'd work for vocals. What it does is, it gets you to do things without being conscious of it, because we all were being programmed the same way.’" Doyle expects a lot from his band and it shows with numerous awards and nine nominations for this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.

Every year Doyle hosts the Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver Festival in Denton, North Carolina.

He has one son, Robbie,and two daughters Suzi and Kristi. Kristi gave birth to the Lawson’s first grandchild, Spencer, in July 2007.

Doyle rededicated his life to Jesus in May 1985 and is a member of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church.

1960s

In 1963, at the age of eighteen, Doyle went to Nashville, Tennessee to play the banjo with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys.

In 1966, Doyle started playing with J.D. Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys (later the New South), in Lexington, Kentucky.

Doyle went back to play the mandolin and sing tenor with Jimmy Martin in 1969 for six months. After he left Martin’s band he went back to play with Crowe until August 1971.

1970s

On September 1, 1971, Doyle started playing with the Country Gentlemen and remained part of the band for almost eight years, when in March 1979 Doyle left the band.

Doyle states that at that time in his career he wanted to make his own sound and that he has done.

In April 1979 Doyle formed his own band and called them Doyle Lawson and Foxfire, which quickly changed to Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

"No one since the late great Bill Monroe melds bluegrass with gospel music quite like the former Country Gentlemen member Doyle Lawson…" Memphis Commercial Appeal

Original and current lineup

Original:

• Terry Baucom-Banjo, Vocal
• Doyle Lawson-Mandolin, Vocal
• Jimmy Haley-Guitar, Vocal
• Lou Reid-Bass, Vocal

Current:

• Jason Barie-Fiddle
• Jessie Baker-Banjo
• Doyle Lawson-Mandolin, Vocal
• Mike Rogers-Guitar, Vocal
• Josh Swift-Dobro, Vocal
• Corey Hensley-Bass, Vocal
• Carl White-Drums

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	US Bluegrass	Label
1977	Tennessee Dream		County
1980	Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver		Sugar Hill
1981	Heavenly Treasures
	Quicksilver Rides Again
	Rock My Soul
1985	Once and for Always
1986	Beyond the Shadows
1987	The News Is Out
1988	Heaven's Joy Awaits
	Hymn Time in the Country
	I'll Wander Back Someday
1989	I Heard the Angels Singing
1990	My Heart Is Yours
1992	Pressing on Regardless		Brentwood
	Treasures Money Can't Buy
1995	Doyle Lawson with Bobby Hicks & Jerry Douglas		Koch
	Never Walk Away		Sugar Hill
1996	There's a Light Guiding Me
1997	Kept & Protected
1998	Gospel Radio Gems
1999	Original Band
	Winding Through Life
2000	Just Over in Heaven
2001	Gospel Parade
2002	The Hard Game of Love
1994	Hallelujah in My Heart		Music Mill
	Thank God		Crossroads
2005	You Gotta Dig a Little Deeper	4	Rounder
2006	He Lives in Me	4	Crossroads
2007	More Behind the Picture Than the Wall	2	Rounder
2008	Help Is On the Way	4	Horizon
2010	Light On My Feet, Ready to Fly	11
2011	Drive Time	15	Crossroads

Compilation albums

Year	Album	US Bluegrass	Label
1990	The Gospel Collection 1		Sugar Hill
1999	A School of Bluegrass	9	Crossroads
2007	Best of the Sugar Hill Years		Sugar Hill

External links

• Doyle Lawson Official Website
• Rounder Records
• CMT Artist
• Commotion Public Relations
• Musician Guide

Persondata
Name	Lawson, Doyle
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 20, 1944
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death