Doyle Lawson’s performance on the Bele Chere stage this weekend could be viewed as a homecoming of sorts for the multiple Grammy Awardwinning bluegrass musician.
Born in Ford Town, Sullivan County, Tenn. in 1944, Lawson grew up with radio broadcasts beaming from nearby Nashville, including that most influential of programs, The Grand Ole Opry.
“Just about everyone listened to The Grand Ole Opry, and our family was no exception,” Lawson recalls on his Web site. “Though I listened to all the stars on the Opry, the group that impressed me most was Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. His music was different, more intense. High lonesome is the term we used for it. I could hardly wait for Saturday nights to arrive so I could listen. I decided early on that I wanted to play that kind of music.”
His desire paid off: Lawson had barely emerged from puberty before he was joining Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys onstage. Early on, Lawson was convinced that versatility was paramount to his marketability as a musician, and he took the time to master the guitar, banjo and mandolin. After holding prominent roles in the Kentucky Mountain Boys and the Country Gentlemen and collaborating with such cornerstone musicians of the genre as J.D. Crowe, in 1979, Lawson struck out on his own, serving as the nucleus around which a series of ensembles formed, all with the name Quicksilver, and all with Lawson’s signature sound, marked by tight playing and even tighter vocal harmonies. Next year the band will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
In its first incarnations, Quicksilver played bluegrass in the traditional mold. But in 1981, Lawson et. al. recorded their seminal all-gospel effort, Rock My Soul, which became an immediate best-seller at festivals and a musthave in bluegrass-record collections around the world. More than one singer has scratched his head while listening to Lawson’s soaring tenor and his bandmates’ crisp vocal work and wondered, “How the heck to they do that?”
In 1985, Lawson found Christ and increasingly paid tribute to his faith in song. Gospel became a specialty, and the world has paid attention, bringing Lawson and his band award after award in both gospel and bluegrass categories. Part of that success owes to Lawson’s pursuit of perfection, regardless of who happens to be playing with him at the moment.
“I jokingly tell folks that Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver is the ‘farm team’ for bluegrass,” Lawson explains on his Web site. “I try to integrate each member’s special talents into my group, while not sacrificing the Quicksilver sound.”
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver play the Biltmore Ave. Stage. 9:30-11 p.m. on Friday.
