Alan Doyle has been a stalwart of the Canadian music industry for over twenty five years and is among the most influential musicians in the country's history. His band the 'Great Big Sea' enjoyed unprecedented success when it came out with the first album in 1993 and helped propel Doyle to international fame. After an absence of over three years, this talented musician made a comeback with a solo album in the year 2015 and has now announced plans to reunite with his band as well. His fans finally have something to look forward to and that has got plenty of them excited.

Beginnings

Alan Thomas Doyle was born in 1969, in Petty Harbor, Newfoundland, Canada. His upbringing had a huge impact on his life, especially on his future career. His mother was the first one to introduce him to music as she herself was a piano teacher. She taught him the basics, while practice and hard work did the rest of the work. It wasn't long before Doyle could play several different instruments and that is why he is considered a skilled multi instrumentalist to this day.

Doyle continued to work on his music throughout his academic life and formed several small time bands along the way. He attended the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's for his Bachelor degree in English and it was here that his life changed. He would meet Séan McCann, Bob Hallett and Darrell Power and together they would form the Great Big Sea which would one day become one of the most popular bands in Canada.

The great big adventure

The Great Big Sea consisted of three people in addition to Doyle. Sean McCann played the bodhrán and tin whistle while Darrel Power played the bass and guitar. Both of them would sometimes contribute to the vocals and guitar playing parts as well. Bob Hallett brought a completely unique dimension to the band's music as he could play the fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles and even bagpipes.

All three had been part of a band called 'Rankin Street' and would play in small time venues for small amounts of money. They met Doyle in the early nineties and they decided to join together and form a band. They toured constantly in their early years, playing shows all across the country and staying on the road for months at a time.

Mainstream success

Great Big Sea's sound was based on the British inspired folk music and sea related songs that were popular in their part of the country. Using this unique genre of music, they released their first, self titled, album in 1993. The album has since been certified gold and was responsible for laying the base for all their future successes. Their follow up album, 'Up' came out two years later and became their highest selling album in history, recording four times platinum sales.

All in all the group has released nine studio albums, with two certified as multi platinum, two certified as platinum, and the rest certified gold. Eight of their albums have also made it into the top ten of the Canadian music charts with their 2002 release, 'Sea of No Cares' their only number one album to date.  

A solo path

Doyle had been involved in individual projects all throughout his time with the Great Big Sea. He has collaborated with Academy Award winning actor Russell Crowe on multiple occasions, helping him write and compose many of his band's songs over the years.  In 2011, they released 'The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol.III.' The two of them have also appeared together in the 2010 blockbuster film, 'Robin Hood,' the 2014 release 'Winter's Tale as well as the popular television show 'Republic of Doyle.'

Doyle also continued his musical career and has released two solo albums to date. The first, called "Boy on Bridge' came out in 2012 and made it to number eleven on the Canadian music charts and number twenty on the US Folk music charts. His follow up, titled 'So Let's Go' came out in 2015, and made it to number thirteen on the Canadian music charts. In order to promote his latest release, this immensely talented artist is now heading out on tour. If you want you want to be part of the journey as well, then get your Alan Doyle tickets and enjoy his performances, live on the stage.