# Doyle Lawson

Doyle Wayne Lawson (born April 20, 1944) is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician. He is best known as a mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Lawson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

## Early life

Doyle Lawson was born in Fordtown, Sullivan County, Tennessee, the son of Leonard and Minnie Lawson. The Lawson family moved to Sneedville in 1954. 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.

## Career
### Early career

In 1963, aged 18 or 19, Lawson went to Nashville to play the banjo with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys.
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.
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.

### Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

Within a month Lawson had formed Doyle Lawson and Foxfire, with Jimmy Haley on guitar, Lou Reid on bass, and Terry Baucom on banjo. The band name was soon changed to Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. 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. With a new bassist, Randy Graham, the band recorded a second gospel album, Heavenly Treasures, also on Sugar Hill.
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.
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. Through the years, Quicksilver toured regularly, performing at festivals concerts and other musical events.
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 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.
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". 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.

## Personal life

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.

## Band members

Final lineup
* Doyle Lawson — mandolin, mandola, guitar, dojo, lead, baritone and low tenor vocals (1979–2021)
* Eli Johnston — banjo, guitar, bass (2013–2018), lead, baritone and low tenor vocals (2013–2018, 2020–2021)
* Stephen Burwell — fiddle, percussion (2014–2020, 2021)
* Jerry Cole — bass, guitar, percussion, lead, tenor and baritone vocals (2018–2021)
* Ben James — guitar, lead and tenor vocals (2020–2021)
* Matt Flake – fiddle, bass, bass vocals (2020–2021)

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Year | Album | US Bluegrass | Label |
| 1977 | Tennessee Dream | | County |
| 1979 | Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | | Sugar Hill |
| 1981 | Heavenly Treasures | | Sugar Hill |
| 1981 | Quicksilver Rides Again | | Sugar Hill |
| 1981 | Rock My Soul | | Sugar Hill |
| 1985 | Once and for Always | | Sugar Hill |
| 1986 | Beyond the Shadows | | Sugar Hill |
| 1987 | The News Is Out | | Sugar Hill |
| 1988 | Heaven's Joy Awaits | | Sugar Hill |
| 1988 | Hymn Time in the Country | | Sugar Hill |
| 1988 | I'll Wander Back Someday | | Sugar Hill |
| 1989 | I Heard the Angels Singing | | Sugar Hill |
| 1990 | My Heart Is Yours | | Sugar Hill |
| 1991 | Merry Christmas from Our House to Your House | | Sugar Hill |
| 1992 | Pressing on Regardless | | Brentwood |
| 1992 | Treasures Money Can't Buy | | Brentwood |
| 1995 | Doyle Lawson with Bobby Hicks & Jerry Douglas | | Koch |
| 1995 | Never Walk Away | | Sugar Hill |
| 1996 | There's a Light Guiding Me | | Sugar Hill |
| 1997 | Kept & Protected | | Sugar Hill |
| 1998 | Gospel Radio Gems | | Sugar Hill |
| 1999 | Original Band | | Sugar Hill |
| 1999 | Winding Through Life | | Sugar Hill |
| 2000 | Just Over in Heaven | | Sugar Hill |
| 2001 | Gospel Parade | | Sugar Hill |
| 2002 | The Hard Game of Love | | Sugar Hill |
| 1994 | Hallelujah in My Heart | | Music Mill |
| 1994 | 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 |
| 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 | Crossroads |
| 2013 | Roads Well Traveled | 14 | Mountain Home |
| 2014 | Open Carefully, Message Inside | 10 | Mountain Home |
| 2015 | In Session | 8 | Mountain Home |
| 2016 | Burden Bearer | 4 | Mountain Home |
| 2017 | Life is a Story | | Mountain Home |
| 2019 | Live in Prague, Czech Republic | | Billy Blue Records |
| 2022 | Roundtable | | Billy Blue Records |

### Compilation albums

| Year | Album | US Bluegrass | Label |
| 1990 | The Gospel Collection 1 | | Sugar Hill |
| 1999 | A School of Bluegrass | 9 | Crossroads |
| 1999 | Once and for Always/The News Is Out | | Sugar Hill |
| 2007 | Best of the Sugar Hill Years | | Sugar Hill |

## Awards

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.

### International Bluegrass Music Association

* 1990 Song of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "Little Mountain Church"
* 1996 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "There's a Light Guiding Me"
* 2000 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "Winding Through Life"
* 2001 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2002 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2003 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2003 Song of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "Blue Train"
* 2003 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "Hand Made Cross"
* 2004 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2005 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2005 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "Praise His Name"
* 2006 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2006 Album of the Year: Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, featuring various bluegrass bands and musicians
* 2006 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "He Lives in Me"
* 2007 Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
* 2007 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "He Lives in Me"
* 2011 Recorded Event of the Year: Doyle Lawson, J. D. Crowe, Paul Williams for "Prayer Bells of Heaven"
* 2011 Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: Doyle Lawson, J. D. Crowe, Paul Williams for "Prayer Bells of Heaven"
* 2012 Hall of Fame: Doyle Lawson