I first saw Doyle play on the DVD Sessions for Robert J., which is also an album that Eric Clapton put out in 2004. I saw this guy playing slide, left handed, on a right handed strat, upside down, with the strings strung backwards (look at the photo above). I’d never seen anyone play like that. The heavy strings are on the bottom and the light strings are on the top. The only other person that I had heard of who played like this was Albert King (one of the three Kings – BB King, Albert King and Freddie King).
I saw Doyle play at the Bull Run restaurant in Shirly, MA (the place is fantastic and only 45 minutes away). He was absolutly on fire that night. He’ll be playing Portland, ME soon as well as Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, NH later this year. His latest album, “Rich Man” will be released later in September. I can’t wait to hear it…
“Rich Man,” the album’s title track, says Bramhall, “is about living for the day, recognizing it’s all we have and finding strength and personal spirituality. It’s about gratitude for spiritual and personal peace.” It also plays on the word “lowly”: “It has a dual meaning. It expresses the difficulty in achieving spiritual peace and gratitude, and represents getting close to the earth and the truth of who you are as a human being- in that state, you have everything you need.”
Here is a video that I love of Doyle playing “Cry”, featuring Alice Smith…
Matt Becker
Live from Matt’s House
