NCEC in the News!
David Holt Incorporated: Advice from an Entrepreneurial Musician
Researched and written by Ethani Walentuk
The BELL forum series on entrepreneurship in the arts ended on a high note for the spring of 2008. We welcomed folk musician and storyteller David Holt to speak on Wednesday, April 23rd, for our last meeting and were entertained with performances of music and dance that were intertwined with talk of his distinguished career and how he made it all happen. Holt has dedicated his life to the study, performance, and documentation of old-time music, which has existed in the Appalachian Mountains since the arrival of the first Europeans. For many years, he has brought this soulful and lively music to many people through live performances in schools and music festivals and through television and radio programs. Holt is a businessman in addition to his other talents in addition, an entrepreneur in the business of David Holt, Inc. Holt shared with us this the music and culture of the old time music he loves and imparted to us a wealth of advice for achieving success in the performance arts.
A four-time Grammy Award winner, David Holt is a musician, storyteller, historian, television host and entertainer dedicated to performing and preserving traditional American music and stories. Holt plays ten acoustic instruments and has released numerous recordings of traditional mountain music and southern folktales. He is host of public television's Folkways, a North Carolina program that takes the viewer through the Southern Mountains visiting traditional craftsmen and musicians and has also served as host of The Nashville Network's Fire on the Mountain, Celebration Express, American Music Shop and Riverwalk: Classic Jazz From The Landing for Public Radio International. In 2002, Holt and Doc Watson won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording for Legacy, a three CD collection of songs and stories reflecting Doc Watson's inspiring life story. Doc and David are currently touring together across the United States.
Old time music is a craft shared among the communities and families of the Appalachian Mountains in the Carolinas, Kentucky, Georgia, and parts of the southeast. Deeply rooted in tradition, it exists in small rural areas of the country that are rarely seen by outsiders. Having grown up in Texas and gone to college in California, David Holt couldn’t have appeared to be more of an outsider of this culture; but he felt a close connection with the music and lifestyle of previous generations of his family who had lived in Alamance County and played mountain music. One of the first instruments he learned to play was a pair of bones that had been passed along in his family through five generations. During a summer break from college, he decided to tackle the quintessential old-time music instrument, the banjo. Holt, not being one to half-heartedly pursue his goals, traveled to the Appalachian Mountains and toured the fiddler’s conventions that summer to pick up some tips from the best banjo players in the world.
Holt took up the banjo full time after graduation, moving with his wife Ginny to Asheville, North Carolina, to begin his career in mountain music. Originally, Holt’s goal was simply to spend time pursuing his passion for music, but once he and Ginny started a family he revised his objectives to include making a living from his music. He realized that his career, if he were to continue playing music, would have to be a business pursuit as much as it was a creative one. David carefully developed himself as an artist and slowly achieved the unique notoriety he claims today as a musician, storyteller, television and radio host, and public performer. His list of entrepreneurial advice is concise and thoughtful; a twelve point manifesto that includes “be self motivated,” “be totally professional,” and “find your mentors, old and young.”
A favorite personal motto of Holt’s is “be good and get better.” He has tried continually to develop himself and his music and explore new areas of performance. Early in his career he took an unconventional approach to live performance by playing for audiences at public schools rather than in bars and other venues. By doing so he has had the chance to instill a love of music and culture in youth, and he often has people comment to him that they remember his visit to their class. From those humble beginnings playing banjo in public schools, to winning Grammys with bluegrass legend Doc Watson, personal growth has always remained a top priority.
Holt’s desire to pursue storytelling developed as he spent more time immersing himself in the Appalachian culture with which he was so fascinated. The people he met always had a story for him; and as he collected them, he realized their potential and wanted to share the stories behind the tunes. These meetings inspired two more of Holt’s tips: “document your career” and “learn to tell your own story.” As an amateur photographer, Holt has collected a trove of black and white prints of the legends of bluegrass, the original generation of musicians that he has had the opportunity to get to know and play music with. Holt also discovered and sought out classic fables and tall tales from dinner tables and jam sessions, eventually gathering collections that he released in books and used in public appearances, earning him notoriety as a storyteller along with his musical prestige in Nashville.
David Holt is now recognized as one of the nation's foremost storytellers. His recording, Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends, was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1999 in the Adult Spoken Word Category. In 1996, Stellaluna, a collection of bat stories, garnered two Grammy Awards for David (artist and producer). Why the Dog Chases The Cat: Great Animal Stories with co-teller Bill Mooney was nominated for a 1995 Grammy Award. Mostly Ghostly Stories is a spine-tingling collection of chilling ghost tales. In addition, his earlier storytelling recordings, The Hairyman and Tailybone, both received the American Library Association's highest honor, the "Notable Recording." August House published Ready-To-Tell Tales and Ready-To-Tell Tales From Around the World edited by Holt and Mooney. The Storyteller's Guide by Holt and Mooney is a complete "how-to" for storytellers. His newest release, the Grammy Nominated CD Live and Kickin' at the National Storytelling Festival, is an entertaining look at David's musical and storytelling journey of the last forty years.
Holt shared more than personal and creative advice; he also includes business recommendations in his list of talking points. His entrepreneurial advice, “pay attention to personal financing” is as useful as some of his more creative tips. “Walk every day,” he advises, noting how important personal health is to professional success. “Market yourself tastefully” and “don’t skimp on publicity” are a couple of practical suggestions he shares.
Like many arts entrepreneurs, David Holt has followed his heart rather than convention to realize personal success. Rather than follow the rules, Holt made his own along the way and in doing so enriched the Appalachian culture with music and stories that have bridged generations and brought increased popularity to the genre. Holt allowed his passion for old time music and desire to learn about and document the rich culture from which it comes to become the primary focus of his career: forging his own unique path through the performance industry. His determination and business sense have allowed him to become successful, and his audience has benefited from the opportunities he has been given to share his knowledge with us.
David Holt's work at UNCG was the final of nine major programs sponsored in the spring 2008 semester by the Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Arts initiative. Programs began on 6 February with Daren K. Woods, General Director of the Fort Worth Opera; and continued on 13 February with a panel of local theatre directors discussing theatre entrepreneurship in Greensboro; 20 February with Brenda Lilly, a distinguished television and film writer (State of Grace); 27 February with Jefferson James, the founder, Artistic, and Executive Director of Contemporary Dance Theater of Cincinnati, Inc;. 5 March with a panel of local arts publicists and reviewers; 2 April with founding Executive Director for HandMade in America, Rebecca Anderson; 9 April with a panel of state leaders in theatre for young audiences; and 16 April with Margaret Hawkins, author, critic, and teacher discussing entrepreneurship in creative writing.