David Holt and the Lightning Bolts: Bio
David Holt and the Lightning Bolts
David Holt and the Lightning Bolts delivers old-time music with a new time jolt. With over ten different instruments including: banjo, fiddle, bottleneck blues guitar, mouth bow and even paper bag the Lightning Bolts present an entertaining and dynamic show filled with humor, stories and music.
Four-time Grammy winner David Holt has assembled a group of stellar musicians and entertainers: Laura Boosinger, Josh Goforth, Jeff Hersk and Byron Hedgepeth who bring to life the joy and spirit of mountain music. Every concert sizzles with music learned directly from musical greats like Doc Watson, Tommy Jarrell, Grandpa Jones, Roy Acuff and the oldest person in the world, 123-year-old Susie Brunson.
David Holt and the Lightning Bolts is a concert band that all ages will enjoy.
Their new CD was recently #1 on the Roots Music Charts. The wide diversity of material, styles and instruments gives the Lightning Bolts the spark that keeps their music fresh, fun and fired up.
David Holt
Four-time Grammy Award winner David Holt is a musician, storyteller, artist, historian and radio and television host. For more than forty years, he as collected and performed the songs and stories of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He learned this treasure trove of music directly from musical greats including Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Tommy Jarrell, Etta Baker and Grandpa Jones.
In addition to making numerous critically acclaimed recordings, Holt is host of popular television programs including the PBS series David Holt’s State of Music, Folkways and Great Scenic Railway Journeys. He was featured in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou and was host of the Nashville Network’s Fire On the Mountain and American Music Shop. In 2016 David was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
From 1998-2012 David toured and performed with the legendary Doc Watson. “A highlight of my career,” says Holt. He currently tours the country performing solo, with Josh Goforth, and with his band, David Holt and the Lightning Bolts.
Laura Boosinger
Laura came to the Swannanoa Valley in 1976 as a student in the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College. She was one of David Holt’s most outstanding students and upon graduation became a full time performer of mountain music. Says Boosinger, “I became acquainted with a variety of families for whom traditional music was a natural part of their lives. My relationships with Quay and Sue Smathers, and the Luke Smathers String Band of Haywood County, became lasting friendships that I count as some of my most valuable.” Laura took David’s place as Luke’s banjo player in 1984 and played in his band for the next 13 years. Her recording “Down the Road” celebrates the music of the region’s great musicians. Today, Laura Boosinger gives back the music she has gathered to the many young people she works with in schools throughout the South. She is director of the Madison County Arts Council, Madison Country, NC.
www.lauraboosinger.com
Josh Goforth
Josh was raised around traditional music in rural Madison County, NC. He has become one of rising stars of acoustic music and a Grammy Nominee. David met Josh when he was a fourteen-year-old student in Madison County. Josh is a descendent of many of the same people David learned from when he first came to NC in 1969.
After high school he went to East Tennessee State University to study music education, and to be a part of ETSU’s famous Bluegrass and Country Music Program. In 2000, he played fiddle for the movie “Songcatcher,” both onscreen and on the soundtrack. He has toured extensively with a variety of ensembles, including the ETSU bluegrass band, with David Holt and Laura Boosinger, and with several bluegrass bands including Appalachian Trail, Carolina Road, Open Road, and The Josh Goforth Band. He has performed all over the United States as well as Europe and Asia. In 2000,2003, and 2005, he was named Fiddler of the Festival at Fiddler’s Grove making him the youngest ever 3 time winner. This secured him the title “Master Fiddler
Jeff Hersk
The upright bass became Jeff’s obsession about 10 years ago, after much less satisfying careers in auto body repair, rural homesteading, and computer programming. He played guitar for many years, performing in rock bands in Canada and California in the ’70s, but now finds that he was meant to be a bassist. Jeff replaced Zeb Holt (David’s son) when Zeb moved to NYC to work for NBC.
Byron Hedgepeth
Byron Hedgepeth,is among the most versatile percussionists in the southeast, performing and recording regularly with a wide variety of artists across genres from jazz to classical to old-time music.