Today we’d like to introduce you to Doyle Turner.
Hi Doyle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My musical journey started with family singing on car rides, my dad singing us to sleep with his guitar on his knee, and our extended family sitting on my Grandma and Grandpa’s screened-in porch, playing guitars and telling stories. My sister and I took a summer school guitar class, where if you could pass a chord test at the end of summer, you could take home a classical guitar. My sister passed the test, and I did not! We ended up with a guitar the kids could use in our house. In my teen years, I had a neighbor who liked to play guitar with me, and he taught me many things about music and playing guitar. One day he handed me a guitar that he had been using and told me to keep it. That guitar went from the West Coast to the East Coast with me. I went to the University of Minnesota at Moorhead and became a music major. They had a guitar program that I joined for two years, which proved influential to me in that some really great guitarists showed me what work and perseverance could do to your skill level. All the while, I was involved in a youth group that had so many opportunities to play music. I ate it up. When we moved to Bemidji, the local music school had a folk collective that did a big open mic monthly. People came from a hundred miles around, and sometimes the performances were broadcast on the radio. That’s where I began to learn about performance. The development of a singing voice mostly came from my younger brother Stephen. As he began to utilize his formal training to project and add country-style breaks into his vocal style, I did as well. It is still one of my best pleasures to harmonize with him. The summer before the pandemic, I saw a Minneapolis singer/songwriter Sarah Morris perform in Grand Rapids. Her song “There, There” enchanted me, and I soon discovered that it was a song that had not been released except on her Youtube channel in conjunction with the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge. The Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge is a Facebook songwriting group. You get a prompt and set time to write a song, record yourself performing it on your phone, and post it to the group. I began writing regularly with this group. This group! Oh, man, is this group something! It changed my life with their supportive and insightful comments about my songs. The whole point is to celebrate that more songs are being written. By writing from a prompt with a time limit, you end up strengthening your songwriting muscle. Instead of waiting for inspiration, I now know to let loose and play with lyrical and musical ideas. Now I’ve been writing over 40 songs each year. Since writing with that group, I have recorded three albums and four singles
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My main obstacle has been the messages that I’ve sent myself. I believe our worst critic lives in our minds, and I listened to mine for many years. I had started writing in many different forms (poetry, short stories, an abandoned novel) throughout my life but stopped due to the thoughts I sometimes chose to believe. Two books have helped me overcome these mental traps: The Practice by Seth Godin and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. They both talk about creativity as a process and how first drafts will invariably not be so great, but the magic is in the doing. The magic is in the persistence, the moving forward every day. They both spoke of art as an act of generosity. Artists are given no assurance that anyone will receive or appreciate what they create. This idea, in particular, is beneficial in a saturated music marketplace where it is challenging to gain listeners’ attention. These ideas and many more have helped me avoid the mental traps that might have stopped me in the past.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer/songwriter who writes and records original songs. I think my lyrics are the strength of my writing at this point in my development as an artist. I am most proud of being able to write songs that connect with people. The power of connection drives my writing and is most satisfying in interacting with and collaborating with other creative people. Songs are an invitation to connect; it takes a listener to listen and “complete the song,” as Guy Clark wrote. I am also an Anishinaabe person who grew up on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. All people are at the center creative, but I think that Anishinaabe people are closer to that time when one had to create and innovate to survive, and I benefit from seeing that creativity firsthand. I am most proud of the growth with every song I write, every collaboration I engage in, and every album I complete. Learning and growing along with others is the most satisfying thing for me.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Before songwriting so intensely, I did not take as many risks. I always found the safe bets in life and lived within the framework society encourages. Songwriting has taught me that risks are where the greatest rewards lie. Failure has become a teacher and something to run towards rather than avoid at all costs. I am a teacher by trade, and this idea has transformed how I teach. One of my main lessons to my students is that we all fail, and failure is a part of the learning process. I have taken risks that I would never have done before in songwriting. I say “yes” to scary things more often because I know that risk-taking is what an artist does. Every artistic endeavor could fail miserably, and I am trying to become more comfortable with that uncomfortable feeling of failure.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.doyleturner.com
- Instagram: doyleturnermusic
- Facebook: @doyleturnermusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr1r–n7x-30DUGcZrP0Jg
Image Credits
Image credits: TJ Turner Photography, Molly Turner, Sophia Joel Photography,
