Lyle de Vitry

Originally written in March 2024, this project included a long-form artist bio & history, a short-form bio for use in a broader array of placements, and a press release for his upcoming album, Door Within a Dream.

Artist Bio

Much like life itself, the music of Lyle de Vitry comes in cycles. With his intricate, ambient fingerpicking guitar style and suede-soft baritone voice, de Vitry mesmerizes audiences into meditative serenity. Immersed in rich and nuanced harmonic composition, listeners are gently drawn into the here and now. Effortlessly moving between unity and dissonance, voice and instrumentation, rhythm and melody, de Vitry seamlessly integrates the comfort of folk music with the spine-shivering emotional release and intentionality of classical compositions. In so doing, he manages to create a sound as dynamic and honest as the ocean’s eternally flowing tides or the planet’s ever-changing seasons. 

Like his other musical siblings, Lyle de Vitry was introduced to traditional music at a very young age. Some of his earliest memories come from the old-time jams and bonfires his parents regularly hosted in the backyard while he and his siblings were growing up. There, people would sit in cozy community and bring music to life, embracing the rolling flow of fiddle tunes played in perpetual motion. 

At the same time, de Vitry found equal inspiration in the classical world. He began piano lessons at eight years old, then added cello to his repertoire one year later. All throughout his youth, he played in orchestras. But it wasn’t ensemble instrumentation that truly caught his heart. “I have had some of the most transformative, transcendent experiences of my entire life singing in choirs,” says de Vitry. He began singing choir in high school and loved it so much that he went on to briefly train as a classical singer in college. 

It is this combination of classical and traditional that lays the foundation of Lyle de Vitry’s debut album, Door Within a Dream. Alongside producers Ethan Jodziewicz and Pat Keen, de Vitry weaves together a living world with little more than a guitar and his voice. On some tracks, he is accompanied by harmony vocals, on others he is joined by the chorus of life itself—with the sounds of breathing, running creeks, and falling rain appearing throughout the album. 

And crucial to the life of his songs is their affinity with death. It is a duality that he is unafraid to face, instead using his creative voice to explore the intertwined essence of all of creation: life cannot exist without death, light cannot exist without darkness, and joy cannot exist without sorrow. There’s beauty to be found in these ideas, even if they can feel overwhelming or frightening. “I believe we can really help each other through music,” says de Vitry.

After all, it helped him. Listening to the music of artists like Nick Drake, Jose Gonzalez, and Adrianne Lenker, and reading the poetry of Mary Oliver helped him feel more grounded and in touch with the intricate beauty of life all around us. Embracing his calling in songwriting helped him navigate the complexities and questions faced during young adulthood, like adjusting to the world and trying to find meaning and purpose. It is a daunting task, no doubt, but it is one that every person must face for themselves. Lyle de Vitry did. Now, at the rising edge of a sure-to-be storied career in music, he is extending his hand—providing a companion to walk alongside you on your journey, should you want it.

“I see it as an offering now,” he says. “I see it as an offering for anyone who wants to be there and to listen to it.”

Lyle de Vitry is an acclaimed songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In 2023, he was selected as one of ten finalists in the internationally recognized Telluride Troubadours contest and was named runner-up in the NewSong LEAF Singer-Songwriter Competition. He recently completed the prestigious Residency at 821 hosted by Lamplight AVL in Asheville, NC, and is currently developing an instrumental album, set to be recorded in the summer of 2024. His debut album, Door Within a Dream, is set to be released in August 2024.