| Doyle Lawson | |
| Birth Place: | Sullivan County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 20 April 1944 |
| Genre: | Bluegrass, gospel |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Instrument: | Mandolin |
| Years Active: | 1963–2021 |
Doyle Wayne Lawson[1] (born April 20, 1944) is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician.[2] He is best known as a mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.[3] Lawson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
Doyle Lawson was born in Fordtown, Sullivan County, Tennessee,[4] the son of Leonard and Minnie Lawson. The Lawson family moved to Sneedville in 1954.[5] Lawson grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. This is where he heard mandolinist Bill Monroe, the "founding father" of bluegrass, and his band the Blue Grass Boys.
Lawson 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. Later Lawson learned to play the guitar and banjo as well.
In 1963, aged 18 or 19, Lawson went to Nashville to play the banjo with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys.[6]
In 1966, he started playing with J.D. Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys (later called the New South) in Lexington, Kentucky. He returned to play the mandolin and sing tenor with Martin in 1969 for six months, and then played again with Crowe until August 1971.[7]
In September, 1971, Lawson started playing with The Country Gentlemen and remained part of the band for almost eight years. During that time, in 1977, he backed up U.S. Senator Robert Byrd on his Mountain Fiddler album. In March 1979, Lawson left the Country Gentlemen with the intention of forming a band and creating his own sound.[4]
Within a month Lawson had formed Doyle Lawson and Foxfire, with Jimmy Haley on guitar, Lou Reid on bass, and Terry Baucom on banjo.[4] The band name was soon changed to Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.[8] [9] In 1981, through Sugar Hill Records, Lawson with this lineup released the critically acclaimed Rock My Soul, an album that would become a landmark bluegrass gospel project.[10] [11] With a new bassist, Randy Graham, the band recorded a second gospel album, Heavenly Treasures, also on Sugar Hill.[4] [8]
Shortly thereafter, Graham, Baucom and Haley left to form their own band. Lawson hired guitarist Russell Moore, banjoist Scott Vestal and bassist Curtis Vestal, and continued to perform. After a time Ray Deaton took over on bass.[4]
In 1989 the band won song of the year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards for "Little Mountain Church House". In 1997, There's a Light Guiding Me was a 39th Annual Grammy Award nominee for Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel or Bluegrass Gospel Album.[12] Through the years, Quicksilver toured regularly, performing at festivals concerts and other musical events.[13]
In 1998, Lawson and Quicksilver became the first bluegrass band to perform at the National Quartet Convention. Lawson and Quicksilver performed in Ontario, Canada at the Tottenham Bluegrass Festival in June 2001[14] and again in June 2015. Lawson and Quicksilver provided the background vocals to the song "Dazzling Blue" on Paul Simon's 2011 album So Beautiful or So What. In 2015, In Session was nominated for Best Bluegrass Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.[15] Lawson composed a number of the band's songs and tunes. His instrumental piece "Rosine", is a tribute to Monroe's birthplace and features, among other things, strains from the singer's 1967 instrumental "Kentucky Mandolin".[16] Lawson hosts the annual Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver Festival in Denton, North Carolina. In 2021, Lawson announced his retirement as a bandleader. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver played their last show in the winter of 2021.
Doyle has been married to Suzanne Lawson since 1978. He has one son, two daughters and a grandchild. Doyle rededicated his life to Christianity in May 1985 and is a practicing member of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church.
Colors = id:Mandolin value:yellow legend:Mandolin id:Banjo value:green legend:Banjo id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Dobro value:magenta legend:Dobro id:Drums value:black legend:Drums id:Fiddle value:red legend:Fiddle id:Guitar value:orange legend:Guitar id:Lines value:gray(0.80) legend:Lines
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2
BarData = bar:Lawson text:"Doyle Lawson" bar:Haley text:"Jimmy Haley" bar:Reid text:"Lou Reid" bar:Baucom text:"Terry Baucom" bar:Graham text:"Randy Graham" bar:Moore text:"Russell Moore" bar:SVestal text:"Scott Vestal" bar:CVestal text:"Curtis Vestal" bar:Deaton text:"Ray Deaton" bar:Mills text:"Jim Mills" bar:Hartgrove text:"Mike Hartgrove" bar:Bowman text:"John Bowman" bar:Feazell text:"Shelton Feazell" bar:Lane text:"Shawn Lane" bar:Stewart text:"Jimmy Stewart" bar:Campbell text:"Brad Campbell" bar:Berry text:"John Berry" bar:Abernathy text:"Barry Abernathy" bar:Perry text:"Dale Perry" bar:Gulley text:"Steve Gulley" bar:Saunders text:"Owen Saunders" bar:Scott text:"Barry Scott" bar:Cleve text:"Jim Van Cleve" bar:Bartlett text:"Doug Bartlett" bar:Dailey text:"Jamie Dailey" bar:HBerry text:"Hunter Berry" bar:Stockman text:"Jesse Stockman" bar:Barry text:"Jess Barry" bar:Beachley text:"Darren Beachley" bar:Johnson text:"Alan Johnson" bar:Cox text:"Joey Cox" bar:White text:"Carl White" bar:Swift text:"Josh Swift" bar:Godman text:"Brandon Godman" bar:Barie text:"Jason Barie" bar:Hensley text:"Corey Hensley" bar:Leek text:"Jason Leek" bar:Rogers text:"Mike Rogers" bar:Baker text:"Jessie Baker" bar:Dean text:"Joe Dean" bar:Pyrtle text:"Dustin Pyrtle" bar:Vanover text:"Jake Vanover" bar:Johnston text:"Eli Johnston" bar:Burwell text:"Stephen Burwell" bar:Cole text:"Jerry Cole" bar:Flake text:"Matt Flake" bar:James text:"Ben James"
PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Lawson from:01/01/1979 till:end color:Mandolin bar:Haley from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1985 color:Guitar bar:Reid from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1982 color:Bass bar:Baucom from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1985 color:Banjo bar:Graham from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1985 color:Bass bar:Moore from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1991 color:Guitar bar:SVestal from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1988 color:Banjo bar:CVestal from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:Bass bar:Deaton from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1991 color:Bass bar:Mills from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1992 color:Banjo bar:Hartgrove from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:Fiddle bar:Bowman from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 color:Guitar bar:Feazell from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1993 color:Bass bar:Lane from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:Guitar bar:Stewart from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:Dobro bar:Campbell from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:Banjo bar:Berry from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 color:Bass bar:Abernathy from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:Banjo bar:Perry from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:Bass bar:Gulley from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:Guitar bar:Saunders from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1997 color:Fiddle bar:Perry from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2003 color:Banjo bar:Scott from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1998 color:Guitar bar:Cleve from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:Fiddle bar:Bartlett from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2001 color:Fiddle bar:Dailey from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2007 color:Guitar bar:Scott from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2005 color:Bass bar:HBerry from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 color:Fiddle bar:Stockman from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2005 color:Fiddle bar:Barry from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:Fiddle bar:Baucom from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2007 color:Banjo bar:Beachley from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2007 color:Bass bar:Beachley from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2009 color:Guitar bar:Johnson from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 color:Fiddle bar:Cox from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2009 color:Banjo bar:White from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2009 color:Drums bar:White from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:Drums bar:Swift from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2020 color:Dobro bar:Godman from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:Fiddle bar:Perry from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2011 color:Banjo bar:Barie from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2014 color:Fiddle bar:Hensley from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 color:Guitar bar:Hensley from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2013 color:Bass bar:Leek from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 color:Bass bar:Rogers from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2013 color:Guitar bar:Baker from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:Banjo bar:Dean from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2020 color:Banjo bar:Pyrtle from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2018 color:Guitar bar:Vanover from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2020 color:Guitar bar:Johnston from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2018 color:Bass bar:Johnston from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 color:Banjo bar:Burwell from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2021 color:Fiddle bar:Cole from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2021 color:Bass bar:Flake from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 color:Fiddle bar:Johnston from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 color:BanjoLineData = at:01/01/1985 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/1990 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/1995 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/2000 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/2005 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/2010 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/2015 color:Lines layer:back at:01/01/2020 color:Lines layer:back
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
| Year | Album | US Bluegrass | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Tennessee Dream | County | |
| 1979 | 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 | ||
| 1991 | Merry Christmas from Our House to Your House | ||
| 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[17] | 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 |
| 2009 | Lonely Street | Rounder | |
| 2010 | Light On My Feet, Ready to Fly | 11 | Horizon |
| 2011 | Drive Time | 15 | Crossroads |
| 2012 | Sing Me a Song About Jesus | 9 | |
| 2013 | Roads Well Traveled | 14 | Mountain Home |
| 2014 | Open Carefully, Message Inside[18] | 10 | |
| 2015 | In Session[19] | 8 | |
| 2016 | Burden Bearer | 4 | |
| 2017 | Life is a Story | Mountain Home | |
| 2019 | Live in Prague, Czech Republic | Billy Blue Records | |
| 2022 | Roundtable |
| Year | Album | US Bluegrass | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Gospel Collection 1 | Sugar Hill | |
| 1999 | A School of Bluegrass | 9 | Crossroads |
| Once and for Always/The News Is Out | Sugar Hill | ||
| 2007 | Best of the Sugar Hill Years |
Lawson is a recipient of a 2006 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[20]