Doyle Lawson

Doyle Wayne Lawson, born April 20, 1944, in Fordtown, Sullivan County, Tennessee, is a bluegrass and gospel musician known for his pioneering blend of traditional bluegrass with gospel quartet harmonies. He began his professional career in 1963 as a banjo player for Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys. In 1966, he performed with J.D. Crowe and the Kentucky Mountain Boys, and he later spent eight years as a member of the Country Gentlemen starting in 1971. A multi-instrumentalist proficient on mandolin, guitar, and banjo, Lawson established his own group, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, in 1979.

Under Lawson’s leadership, the band recorded numerous gospel projects, including Rock My Soul (1981), Heavenly Treasures, and Once and for Always (1985). His catalog also includes Tennessee Dream (1977), Life Is A Story (2017), and Open Carefully, Message Inside (2014). Throughout his career, he became recognized for integrating traditional gospel quartet singing into bluegrass music.

Lawson received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2006 and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2012. He was also a seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year award and received an Honorary Ph.D. in Fine Arts from King College in 2007.