Low down and dirty 'Blues-A-Billy” at it's best! Smokin’ guitar and vocals coupled with harp and horns for just the right mix of Jump sweatin’ blues and rockabilly swing! Michael Holt and the Trophy 500’s have combined all the elements of Texas blues and rockabilly to form a rockin' swingin' package that'll shake you to the core!
Michael Holt was born in Jacksonville Florida and moved to Farmington New Mexico when he was around two years old. A product of a broken household, (really? a blues artist from a broken home?) he gravitated towards his uncle Jim Owens musical roots. "Uncle Jim was a drummer in a country western swing band" "I used to sit on the washing machine in the garage and watch em practice". "'He wanted me to play drums but I left that up to my younger brother" (Ken Hiner)."I can still remember sneakin a peek at the guitar player's white strat stuck away in the tweed case even though I wasn't supposed to". "I was hooked". After that Holt grabbed hold of anything musical. Transistor radio's under the covers all nite listening to favorite r&b and trucker stations on the 'skip' out of Oklahoma City in grade school. Trombone and marching band, concert band and his favorite, big band swing through junior high and high school. "You couldn't keep off guitar when I was a teenager. When things got hairy in the house I just stayed in my bedroom and played". "We had a local dance band and even played our own graduation".
After high school Holt moved to upstate NY to the little town of Oswego. "The rock and roll bug had taken effect and I was playing in two or three bands at once". "Training for living in Austin I think!" It was here that Michael got a good look at the professional side of music. "Everyone was playin in that little town". "It was in the guinness book of world records for the most bars in the least populated area in the united states". "I took pride in that and drank my ass off". "Almost killed me". It was here that holt met and worked for what ended up being one of the biggest thrash metal bands in the world as a guitar tech. "It was my taste of the big time". "Tour buses, girls, booze, traveling the country and other parts of the world, I got the bug pretty bad". "I always knew I was a little different from those guys", "I liked more bluesy stuff, stuff that grooved". "Plus I hated being the tech and not playin." "I was into the heavy metal thing at that time but always liked the players that grooved and had soul". "My favorite player for a long time was Hiram Bullock from the David Letterman Band". "That dude was the shit!" Michael took a hiatus from music that would take him back to New Mexico with a six month old son to raise. "If it wasn't for my parents I would have tanked". "They had him for a couple years until I could get things together." Later getting married and having another son Holt tried the music scene again this time in Albuquerque New Mexico. "I had really quit playing for a long time but was really bowled over by Faith no More". "It was heavy and it grooved." "Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughn were on the scene and I remember being blown away by that as well". "Who wasn't?" "My favorites early on were John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, all the Kings, BB, Freddie, Albert, I used to watch Austin City Limits just to get a taste of live music when I was a teenager". "We didn't get much live music in the redneck oilfield town I grew up in". "I started a band with a buddy of mine and talked my brother into moving to town and playing drums". This is where the band Captain Tripps was born. Michael Holt played with that project from 1990 till around 1996. It featured Gilbert Gallegos on vocals, Ken Hiner on drums, and Jesse Perrin on Bass. "Man we were heavy!" (Jesse if you read this give me a call!) 96 brought divorce and single parenthood to Holt again. "I had to concentrate on being a dad to these two kids". "I will never regret having them or raising them I can tell you that". "Raising my kids will be the single most important thing I do in this lifetime".
Michael Holt gave up guitar for the most part for the next four years. "I couldn't do it anymore". "I just wanted to play blues". "I knew that the window to be 'big time' with that had come and gone". "I didn't care", "hell I couldn't even really find my way around the stuff". "It was me coming full circle though". "I just wanted to play those old rhythms", "I wanted to swing again". It was here that Michael Holt had to start from scratch. No licks, chords, chops or ego. Everything for Holt was back to the basics. "I would go out to these blues jams and it would be embarrassing, all these guys who knew me from the big loud guitar days watched me suffer through having to start over". "That was around the year 2000 when I started really working on figuring out what I wanted from the blues".
It was in 2005 that Holt moved to Austin Texas to be near his youngest son. "Everything just blossomed for me when I got to Austin". "I get to be with my youngest son after being estranged for about four years". "He teaches me so much about life!" "He's great". (Holt also reunited with his dad when he was in his thirties) "I started my band and learned all the pleasures and pain of being a frontman". "I had to dig in and work even harder on my playing and find a voice on the guitar and vocally that's mine". "I found out I can write songs like I never could before", "Austin promotes individuality and being an artist". "After feeling lost most other places on the planet I am truly home here".
Michael Holt currently lives in Austin Texas and enjoys life with his girlfriend Julie, her daughter and his two sons. His oldest Randall moved to Austin as well. You can find him working on vintage motorcycles at his shop ACME CycleWerks, or playing hookie at Austin Vintage Guitars or The Custom Shop Guitar and Bass when he's not on tour or playing local shows.
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