Americana Music Magazine – Bluegrass, Roots, Folk, Blues, and Old-Time
Ken Holt lives in the sleepy little beach town of Satellite Beach, FL. The son of a US Marine, he was born in Jacksonville, FL, then moved around a bit growing up before settling down and serving 20 years as a youth pastor in the Presbyterian Church.
Before that, in the mid 70’s and early 80’s, he was a bass player for a fairly successful New England based band, The Blend, which released two albums and toured successfully with bands like The Who, ZZ-Top, Hall & Oats, 38-Special, Loggins and Messina, The Outlaws, Charlie Daniels, Foghat, and more.
Even though he eventually found himself working in the church, “music is what I do,” he said, “yesterday, today, and prayerfully, tomorrow.” His recent solo project, Shades of Light, has produced two top ten singles on the indie charts in both the country and Americana genres.
“I’ve always done music in some form,” Ken said. “I played my first club date when I was a junior in high school, at 16 years old, in Jacksonville, playing the Navy NCO Club. And I’ve played music in some form my whole life ever since then. Even in the church – music is a great resonator – especially with young people. So one of the first things I always did when I went to a new church, was start a band,” he recalled.
Because of all of the various iterations of music Ken has participated, he said; “now my music blends together and Americana is what describes it. Daily, you will find me refining lyrics, trying out new song arrangements, recording tracks in my home studio, and rehearsing with my current duo, The Promise.”
Ken is continuously writing and says he has six or seven songs already written for the next project. “The writing piece is always there, it’s an ongoing thing,” he said. “That’s the fun piece of the puzzle, that creative piece.”