irish @ temperance | John Doyle

We are on a crazy mission to host the world's best acoustic guitarists. We've had Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, Gordon Giltrap, Tim Edey and more, and now we are thrilled to announce that John Doyle will be coming to play at Temperance. As the Wall Street Journal says "Doyle on guitar has risen to a level occupied by him alone." He's been sideman to Eric Clapton and Joan Baez, a regular in the Transatlantic Sessions Band and he has reinvented the place of the guitar in Irish traditional music. He played for President Obama, but now he's playing for us!

"In my Wall Street Journal article on him this past March, I described John as one of the world’s best acoustic guitarists. I now think that may be an understatement" Earle Hitchner, The Wall Street Journal and the Irish Echo

"More talent than anybody deserves to have all to themselves" Philadelphia News

More about John Doyle

Over the past 20 years and more John has established himself as the guitarist-accompanist of choice for not only Joan Baez and Mary Chapin Carpenter but also the great Chicago-born Irish fiddler Liz Carroll and bluegrass stars Tim O’Brien and Dirk Powell.​

Add in a GRAMMY nomination for the album Double Play, 2024 Eric Clapton recording sessions and his place in the Transatlantic Sessions band, singer songwriter John Doyle is one of the greatest folk artists of our time.

From 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, & 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 as well as appearing 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, PBS’s Out of Ireland and also 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 (check out the discography page for a full list). John is 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.

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