Damhnait Doyle

by Charlotte Dillon Singer Damhnait Doyle began her professional music career in the middle of the '90s. After the release of a few singles and a debut album in 1996, the young singer landed award nominations for Female Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Best New Solo Artist, and Video of the Year. Not a bad start. Damhnait Doyle was born in Labrador City, Newfoundland, in the winter of 1975. Her mother was a teacher and her father a professor. Instead of normal academics though, young Doyle's interest leaned toward music. When she was only six, her family moved to St. John's and there she was able to take classical voice training, do some acting, and sing with two local choirs. One, her Catholic high school choir, the other the Holy Heart of Mary Chamber Choir. After graduation, Doyle fully planned on attending the National Theater School, but didn't make it in. Wanting to stay in touch with the music world in any way she could, she found a job that would keep her close to it -- working in an office for a music distributor company. As if in some fairy tale right from a childhood story, Doyle was overheard singing while she worked one day, and the rest is kind of history, at least hers. From that one lucky break, she landed a contract with Latitude Records. In 1996 she recorded her first two singles, "A List of Things" and "Whatever You Need." That same year she completed a debut album, Shadows Wake Me. She also got the chance to increase her fan base when she spent some time touring with the prominent and favored group, Barenaked Ladies. It took four years before Doyle offered her fans a sophomore full-length recording, Hyperdramatic. By that point in her career she had switched labels, and was working with EMI Music Canada. She had some pretty impressive help with the album from musicians Tim Welch, Chris Tait, Anne Bourne, and Dave Gray. A few of the tracks from the second album include "Tattooed," "Learn to Crawl," "Elusive Drug," "Sleep Past You," "So Well," and "Maybe a Son."