Born in 1971 in Dublin, Ireland, John Doyle comes from an extended family of musicians and singers. His earliest musical influences were his father - a great singer and song collector - and his Co. Sligo grandfather, Tommy Doyle.

John was playing professionally by the age of 16 when he and singer Susan McKeown formed The Chanting House. Shortly after, John and McKeown moved to New York City and added the huge talents of Seamus Egan and Eileen Ivers to the line-up. The group played together for over a year, touring in the US and Europe. John, Seamus and Eileen later teamed up with African percussionist Kimate Dinizulu to form a group playing in and around New York City.

Around this time, John and Seamus Egan came together with Chicago accordionist John Williams, fiddler Winifred Horan, and Karan Casey, the Waterford-born singer, to form Solas. John's guitar playing provided the signature rhythmic backbone for the band, which went on to become one of the most successful traditional Irish music groups of all-time. While with Solas, John performed to sold-out audiences all over the world, received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination for the band's self-titled first recording, and played and recorded with musicians such as Bela Fleck, Iris DeMent, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, The Chieftains, Donal Lunny, Sharon Shannon and many more.

John released his first solo album, ‘Evening Comes Early’, on the Shanachie Label in 2001 and currently plays with the Eileen Ivers band.