By Joel Frady

Grammy-award winning musician David Holt will take a break from touring with bluegrass legend Doc Watson

to spend two days playing music in Ashe County. Holt, who hosts Folkways on UNC-TV, will perform for students at Blue Ridge Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Ashe County Middle School and Ashe County High School before playing a 7:30 p.m. show at the Ashe Civic Center on Friday, March 20, with his band, the Lightning Bolts.

"David is such an icon in traditional music," said Jane Lonon, executive director of the Ashe County Arts Council. "He's a well-known traditional musician and storyteller with a beautiful voice, wonderful stage presence and the ability to engage an audience. She added that while Holt has played in Ashe County before, it's been several years since he last visited.

For Holt, who plays venues across the country and has appeared on The Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw, taking a couple days to perform music for up and coming musicians is what he calls "my favorite thing, of all the things I do.

"The people of North Carolina who come out to see me have been watching me for years on Folkways, and some of them probably knew me from The National Network," he said. "They understand the music, they know where it comes from, they know what's good and they know what's bad. That's an exciting audience to play for."

Holt later said that, with his music, he "always tries to do a variety of things I've collected here in the mountains, everything from the banjo/fiddle stuff I'm known for, to playing the slide guitar, the bluesy things I've learned in the mountains to the washboard.

"I try to have a wide variety that will entertain any age group, but keeping it all within the realm of mountain music," he said. "I usually use stories to set up a tune or give people some context about where I learned it."
At the age of 60, Holt has been playing mountain music for more than four decades. He said that ever since he was 19 and saw Carl Sprague, the "original singing cowboy," he was drawn to both the music and the old-timers who play it.

"I realized there was an unbelievable wealth you could learn from these old folks," he said, "both their music and their wisdom about life. So when I came back to the southern mountains when I was 22, I realized that the mountains were full of great musicians. There were literally hundreds of them, and to be able to learn from them directly has always been my inspiration. And it continues to be today." He noted that Watson, in particular, continued to provide inspiration.

"Luckily, I'm 60 years old, so I'm happy that I'm still inspired," he added. "I haven't lost any of my passion for the music at all."

Holt will teach a master class with the Ashe County JAM group, who will also perform onstage with Holt and the Lightning Bolts on Friday. Of teaching, Holt said that he always starts with rhythm.

"I think that's the heart of the music," he said. "Having a good, solid rhythm is the most important thing. Adding melody onto that is the next most important thing," and "finding the rhythmic groove of the tune and sticking with that is the thing that works."

Lonon added that the opportunity to learn from Holt is "just an incredible experience" for the students.

Holt will perform with his band, the Lightning Bolts (Josh Goforth, Reggie Harris and Jeff Hersk) at Friday night's show.

Holt said that he's bringing some "great musicians" and that audiences can "appreciate some outstanding pickin', if I may say so."

Admission to Friday night's concert is $12 for adults and $5 for students. To find out more, contact the Ashe County Arts Council at (336) 846-2787 or click to www.ashecountyarts.org.