Incense and Peppermints: Mark Doyle Album Release Concert

Mark Doyle has had an interesting and varied career in the music business. Raised by musical parents, he studied extensively in classical and jazz piano, appearing on local TV and radio shows by age ten. Mark seemed destined for a career in jazz piano until The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, whereby he switched to guitar. His first band, Jukin’ Bone, was signed to RCA when Mark was still in his late ‘teens. They went on to make two obscure albums hailed by Creem Magazine as seminal classics of early ’70’s hard rock.

After the breakup of that band in 1973, Mark found his niche as lead guitarist/arranger/right-hand man for a series of brilliant and eccentric singer/songwriters. Highlights of this period include two albums each with Andy Pratt (“Resolution” and “Shiver In The Night”) and Cindy Bullens (“Desire Wire”and “Steal The Night”), and three albums with David Werner (“Whizz Kid,” “Imagination Quota,” and “David Werner”), along with a number of tours as lead guitarist and bandleader for these artists. Concurrent with this activity were numerous session dates as a guitarist for Daryl Hall & John Oates, Judy Collins, Leo Sayer, and many others.

The ’80’s saw Mark embark on many world tours and TV appearances as lead guitarist for Meat Loaf; another high point was arranging and singing the background vocals on “Straight From The Heart” by Bryan Adams. An avid interest in record production saw Mark perfecting his craft on many independent label productions, as well as major label productions for Epic and Casablanca.

A move to Boston in 1988 yielded a new career as a string arranger. After being introduced to producer Maurice Starr, Mark arranged strings for virtually all of Starr’s acts, including New Kids On The Block, Rick Wes, Perfect Gentlemen, Tiffany, The Superiors, Seiko, and The Stylistics, also contributing co-production and instrumental prowess to many of these records.

A call from producer Michael Beinhorn led to Mark contributing string arrangements to The Cavedogs’major label debut on Capitol, “Soul Martini.”

Next, Mark traveled to Tokyo to play keyboards and acoustic guitar for the Epic/Sony and Pioneer labels.

Mark left Boston in 1994 and currently resides in Syracuse, N.Y., where he continues to actively produce and perform on a regular basis. He has recently completed two critically acclaimed solo albums of guitar instrumentals – the moody “Guitar Noir” and the neo-psychedelic “Out of the Past.” Other newer recordings include the double live CD and DVD of his “Solstice at the Cathedral,” two albums produced for old friend Andy Pratt, and a brand new collaboration with original Jukin’ Bone partner Joe Whiting, “The Truth.”

Mark’s formed his own band, Mark Doyle and The Maniacs, in 2009. They released two albums – “Shake ‘Em On Down: A Salute to the 60s British Blues Boom” and “Comin’ Home”, which both won SAMMY Awards for Best Blues CD in 2010 and 2011, respectively. They are out gigging regularly and always deliver an awesome show steeped in the blues rock tradition.

2011 saw the release of two long-anticipated projects: “From The Dark Side Of The Moon” by Mary Fahl, which was co-produced by Mark and David Werner, and the sequel to 1999’s “Guitar Noir”, Mark Doyle’s third solo instrumental album, “In Dreams: Guitar Noir II.”

2012 saw Mark Doyle and The Maniacs back in the studio recording their third album, “Pushin’”, which has an official release date of January 4, 2013.

As a companion piece to the new album, the band also released a DVD, “The Making of Pushin’”, an in-depth view of the recording sessions with interviews, performances, and official videos.

July 2013 saw the release of Mark Doyle and The Maniacs – “Live and Burnin’”, the first official live CD from the band, recorded multi-track on June 22, 2013 in New Hartford.

In August 2013 Mark was hired as Music Director/Guitarist/Grand Pianist for long-time friend Mary Fahl. He assembled a band of Syracuse musicians and they are currently playing select Opera Houses in the Northeast.