Doyle's exposure to bluegrass music came early in life as he began listening to Bill Monroe on the family radio in the late 1940s and early 1950s on the Saturday night "Grand Ole Opry." Later Ralph and Carter Stanley and Mac Wiseman appealed to him on the "Farm and Fun Time Show," which aired over WCYB in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia.

A native of Kingsport, TN, Doyle speaks with pride of his Appalachian musical heritage where his parents sang a capella gospel music in the Kingsport area. In 1954 Doyle's father, Leonard, moved the family to a farm near Sneedville, TN and by this time Doyle was set on learning to play the mandolin. His father borrowed one from Willis Byrd, a fellow gospel quartet member, and Doyle quickly began to learn to play by listening to radio programs and records. Mastering the mandolin, however proved difficult until Doyle met Jimmy Martin in 1958. Jimmy taught him how to use the right wrist properly and how to keep his fingers close to the finger board to avoid excessive motion in noting. "Bill taught me how to do this and now I'm gonna teach it to you," said Jimmy. Once Doyle decided he wanted to pursue a career in bluegrass, he added the guitar and banjo to his instrumental capabilities.

In 1962 Doyle had moved to Morristown, TN, where he was playing local square dances, when he received the long-awaited call from Jimmy Martin asking that he bring his banjo to Nashville for an audition. Doyle recalled that Jimmy picked him up at the bus station on February 3, 1963, at 3:00 A.M. and his first request was, "get out your banjo." Doyle got his Gibson RB-100 out of the case in the parking lot and Jimmy said, "Play Cripple Creek." As soon as Doyle finished, Jimmy said, "You're hired," which marked the beginning of Doyle's professional career as he replaced Billy Edwards on banjo with the Sunny Mountain Boys. Other members of the band at the time included Paul Williams, Kirk Hansard, and Lois Johnson.



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