When Eliza Doyle’s car broke down in Nashville in 2015, she found herself happily stuck in Music City. The venerable Saskatchewan banjo player and singer/songwriter had stopped in to see a festival and ended up enjoying an extended stay, playing in bars and meeting all manner of talented musicians. Having been on sabbatical to follow her muse anyway, it seemed like fate urging her to keep on the well-worn path to musical fulfillment.
Doyle has had a twenty year career in groups, as a solo artist, as a professional session musician, playing banjo, singing, and performing with the banjo, dobro, guitar, and mandolin. She has released nine full-length albums, won a Juno with the group The Dead South (which she toured with from 2016-2018), and has toured Canada, the USA and Europe extensively. Doyle has been a regional finalist in CBC’s Searchlight Canada competition and past winner of Bell Media’s contest, The Next Big Thing.
Most recently, she’s co-founded a non-profit, C.A.M.P (Community Arts Mentorship Program) to bring music programming to remote and underserved Indigenous and Metis communities in Saskatchewan, winning her a CBC Top 40 Under 40 Award, as well as an Industry Achievement Award in 2021 and 2022, and nominations in both 2020 and 2023.
Doyle’s latest studio album, “Pretty Strange” is a 10 track collection of bangers captured live at Sidekick Studios in Nashville, TN on May 4th, 2022. Recently released March 1st 2023, it summarizes Doyle’s progression as an artist by framing her unique and catchy, melody driven songwriting style in the context of an exciting alt- country/folk sound. With driving banjo, guitar and pedal steel licks throughout to keep the listener engaged and eager to discover each track, her fresh take on the Americana genre is a welcomed addition to the scene.
Photographer: Lisa Landrie
