Eliza Doyle spent two years travelling the world with the band The Dead South and producing her own album, but now she’s traded in the big stage for something different.
For the last month Doyle has been in Stanley Mission, a small community north of La Ronge, giving free music lessons to students and residents.
“I’m really passionate about working with communities and I’m really passionate about spreading music,” Doyle told CTV News.
It’s part of a pilot project to bring music to the north. Doyle spent the month of December collecting donations of instruments that are now in the hands of community members.
There haven’t been music classes in the schools since the 1980s, but Doyle says the students are showing a lot of interest. Due to overflowing signup sheets Doyle has had to add additional classes throughout the week.
Doyle says while some students have made great progress in a few weeks, she mostly wants to help expose kids explore to music.
“You know it takes a long time to play a ‘G’ chord on the guitar but everyone keeps coming back. And they’re excited about it every single week.”
Doyle is working with the community to figure out how to sustain the music program once she leaves. She also hopes to bring the program into other northern communities.
Doyle is wrapping up her time in Stanley Mission on Feb. 10 with a concert for Stanley Mission’s budding musicians to show off their new found skills.
