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Teresa Doyle is a vocal explorer with a lifelong passion for pushing the boundaries of her voice. She is endlessly experimenting with new vocal colours, extended vocal techniques, and vocal textures from other cultures. Her exploration has taken her around the world singing with Kenyan farm women, a Japanese lute player, Tibetan overtone singers, Soca musicians from Tobago, improvisers in New York, South Indian Singers, traditional Gaelic singers from Ireland, and folk musicians from The Yukon Territory to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her repertoire reflects her journey but is always firmly rooted in the Celtic music and stories of her native Prince Edward Island. Doyle’s ten recordings on her label, Bedlam Records, have met with critical acclaim at home in the Maritimes, across North America, Europe and Japan. This body of work has garnered numerous awards including two ECMAs, two JUNO nominations and the 2007 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for music. Teresa’s latest recording, Late Night Parlour is a mix of Teresa Doyle’s own songwriting and tunes from the swing and Latin era. The title track takes you to the tropical sensuality of Tobago and a mountainside rum shack called The Late Night Parlour. Inspired by performing with Soca musicians at the rum shack, Teresa began writing songs from the languor of her beach chair. Her songwriting is sassy, sexy, danceable and fun. The Late Night Parlour is co-produced by Teresa and David Rashed.
Doyle has attracted listeners at countless festivals and concert venues including: The Mariposa, Winnipeg and Vancouver Folk Festivals, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the 92nd Street ‘Y’ in Manhattan, England’s Salisbury Art Centre, Sound Symposium, The St. John’s Jazz festival, Canadian Jazz and World Showcases and the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. She gives voice workshops in Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and Ireland.
Doyle has recorded with some of Canada’s finest musicians, Oliver Schroer, Mike Murley, David Travers-Smith, David Woodhead, Ben Grossman, Rich Greenspoon, Ian Toms, Jamie Gatti, Jaron Freeman-Fox, and others. Doyle had the good fortune to perform with the late jazz pianist Doug Riley, Dr. Music. Together they recorded Summerfly ‘live off the floor’ at CBC Studio H in Halifax.
Teresa moves effortlessly from one musically passion to another. She has five award-winning Celtic recordings including a collection of Irish Gaelic songs. The birth of her son in 1994 inspired her to create quality children’s music from the Celtic tradition. Teresa credits much of her recording success to her long-standing relationship with the now late Oliver Schroer. Her most recent release, Late Night Parlour, is dedicated to his memory. Music from Doyle’s label, Bedlam Records, is distributed in Canada by Outside Music, in the U.S. by Allegro and online at www.teresadoyle.com. Her music appears on more than a dozen compilations including three collections by Putumayo World Music with releases in twenty-two countries.
 Teresa Doyle has nine recordings on her own label, Bedlam Records: Late Night Parlour…A blend of smart, sassy, swing tunes from the 1940s and Teresa’s quirky commentary on life, love and tea. Summerfly…Teresa performs eclectic and classic Jazz standards with virtuoso pianist Doug Riley, Dr. Music. ORRACHAN, The Divinine Feminine in Gaelic Song…a collection of ancient Irish Gaelic sacred music. Layered ethereal vocals, a deeply restful and contemplative work. Cradle on the Waves…a collection of lullabies and slow aires both original and traditional. This recording garnered a JUNO nomination and an East Coast Music Award. If Fish Could Sing…more up-tempo Celtic songs for children with the chorus "The Boys & Girls of Bedlamb". This album won an American Library Association Award, Parents Choice Recommended and was nominated for both an East Coast Music Award and a JUNO Award. Dance to Your Daddy…traditional Celtic and Maritime songs carefully chosen to appeal to children as well as their parents. This recording won an East Coast Music Award for children’s album of the year. Songs for Lute and Voice…Renaissance lute songs with lute player Toshizo Tanaka. Stowaway…traditional Celtic and original songs based on P.E.I. legends of witches, stowaways and land struggles collected by Teresa. Forerunner…traditional Celtic and original songs based on ghost stories that Teresa collected on P.E.I. Prince Edward Isle, Adieu…traditional Celtic and Maritime songs.  Arts Education has always been a strong focus for Teresa throughout her career. She skills as both a performer and a teacher are welcomed at folk festivals and in schools. It is her belief that everyone should sing and that teaching children to sing at a young age is critical. Teresa has studied voice with many teachers. Her first lesson was with Odette at a folk festival in The Yukon. She is currently enrolled in a three year course of study with South Indian singer Russill Paul. She also believes that singing music from other cultures fosters peace and understanding. Here is a brief summary of her work as an educator:
Teresa Doyle Wins Victor Martyn Lynch–Staunton Award On October 3rd, the Canada Council announced the 2007 winners of Victor Martyn Lynch–Staunton Awards. Annually, the Awards recognize outstanding mid-career artists. A single Canadian artist in each of seven disciplines is named as recipient of the $15,000 prize. When Teresa Doyle heard that she'd won for music, she went through a number of emotions. Her first reaction was shock -- she had no idea she'd even been nominated. Once the idea that she'd won began to settle, she started thinking of all the people that should have won rather than her, beginning with her producer, Oliver Schroer. Coming happily to terms with the fact that she was the chosen recipient, however, Doyle started to have extravagant ideas about uses for the cash. (I believe a wood shed was mentioned.) Finally, Doyle was left with a feeling of affirmation that her meandering artistic path had led her to this recognition. She has sometimes worried that her fickle nature might be bad for her career. Having done Celtic music, Renaissance music and jazz -- for starters, Doyle thought perhaps she might get somewhere faster if she just picked a genre and stuck with it. There's a philosophical theory, known as the principle of obliquity, that seems to be in play here. According to this theory, the fastest path to success is not typically the most direct one. For example, individuals who are most concerned with their own happiness are not typically very happy and companies that value profit more highly than integrity or service are not typically the most profitable. In Teresa Doyle's case, obliquity translates to success as an artist resulting from following her interest wherever it takes her, both musically and geographically, rather than plugging doggedly away at whatever seems most likely to lead to success. A good deal of Doyle's energy also goes into teaching music and the administration of the Rock Barra artists' retreat. For the past year or so, she's been teaching her own blend of sound yoga (which combines chants and vocal exercises with gentle postures and movements) integrated with classical and world folk music. Doyle's system may not be traditional but I can vouch for the results. I swear, leaving sound yoga is the only time in my life I ever felt like the song "Walking on Sunshine" could be my soundtrack. In fact, it's the only time I've ever come close to getting the concept. A friend once told Doyle that he could tell which people walking down Queen were coming from her sound yoga class by the spring in their steps and the smiles on their faces. When Doyle was interviewed about the Award for the CBC, she was asked how she copes with being so busy. And she is busy, no mistake, said Doyle. But she's busy running from one thing that she loves to something else that she loves. The path may not be straight but the journey is happy and, as demonstrated by this award, is going somewhere good. Chatelaine Teresa Doyle - Opening up to enriching experiences When you think about the music business, certain images spring to mind: gleaming limos, two-martini power lunches, a glass-and-steel office in a 52-storey building. But for Teresa Doyle, a folksinger who runs her own company, Bedlam Records, the preferred means of transportation is a kayak. Lunch is likely to include succulent fruit and veggies from her own garden and work takes place within her rambling house with grey cedar siding in the hills of Caledonia, P.E.I. Married and the mother of a seven-year-old son, Doyle, 44, realizes that for her, balance means variety. "There's a single-mindedness among a lot of dedicated artists," she observes. "Most of the musicians I know live and breathe their work and often there's not much time for anything else. They're driven! But that's not how I want to live my life. I have a lot of interests and, in spite of the fact that I run this company on my own, it doesn't take up a terribly big chunk of my time." The make-your-job-fit-your-life approach seems to be working: her last two albums, Celtic tunes for kids, Cradle on the Waves and If Fish Could Sing, won Juno nominations and two others have won awards. An interest in watercolours - the cover art on her lastest CDs is her own - helped ground Doyle even further. "I need creative things to feed me. Since I've begun painting, I feel much more in balance. When things get too lopsided and work pulls me too far away from the other things in my life, I feel it." In addition, Doyle says that being a parent fulfils her both emotionally and creatively. "When people think about having kids, they think about the incredible time commitment. But being a good artist is opening yourself up to the world. And nothing brings you more in contact with other people than having a child. The whole experience is so rich." |
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