Amo Returns: Leitrim musician to play first home gig in a decade

After nearly three decades forging a music career in the United States, John Amo Doyle is set to return to his roots in Leitrim for his first home gig in ten years.

The Keadue-born singer-songwriter, formerly known as Amorillo, will take to the stage at M.J. Connors in Leitrim Village on June 20th.

“I was there at Christmas, and I went into M.J. Connors just to check it out, and I just think it’s a, it’s just an awesome venue,” he says.

When he started out playing in Leitrim in his late teens, he built up a following with the name Amorillo, he explains. That name gradually morphed into Amo, thanks to fans in Carrick-on-Shannon, he says. “Then Amo stuck,” he says, and it’s stuck ever since.

For Doyle, this homecoming is more than just a gig. It’s a return to where his musical journey began, touring pubs across the northwest before moving to the U.S. in 1997 in search of new opportunities.

“There was more opportunity to introduce my original stuff,” he explains. “And that’s what I’d done — I slowly introduced it into my shows.” He was offered a production deal but turned it down to stay independent. He ended up publishing, marketing and selling two albums, with his CDs being bought around New York.

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“I would actually sign it for people and mail it out to them directly before Amazon came along, and then Amazon handled the distribution,” he said.

“But then streaming came along,” Doyle notes, “and that killed the income for recorded music for independent musicians.”

Now based between New York and Florida, with a stint in Lanzarote following the Covid-19 pandemic, Doyle has spent most of the last 28 years playing to American crowds, earning a loyal following along the way.

His gigs are anything but predictable as he built up a reputation in New York with his original music, including his jukebox banger ‘One Night Stand,’ and a unique guitar solo played with a pint glass against guitar strings. “I sprinkle a bit of Irishness into it,” he smiles.

Exactly what will be played on the night remains undecided. “I’ve been trying to figure out my set list. I put one together and then I rip it up,” he laughs. “There’s going to be a lot of people there who haven’t seen me in a long time… I think on the night, I’ll just wing it. That’s how I’ve always worked.”

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