5/28/99
ATHENS, Ohio -- Grammy Award winning storyteller and musician David Holt will give a free "One Man Celebration of Stories & Songs" at 8 p.m. Friday, June 4, in front of the west portico of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Ohio University's College Green on the Athens campus.
Holt plays 10 acoustic instruments and has released numerous recordings of traditional mountain music and southern folktales. His "Stellaluna," collection of bat stories and amazing bat facts won a 1996 Grammy Award. His collection, "Grandfather's Greatest Hits," featuring the legendary Chet Atkins, Doc Watson and Duane Eddy playing together for the first time, received a 1992 Grammy Award nomination. Holt's newest recording, "Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends," is up for a Grammy Award this year.
Holt is the host of Folkways, a North Carolina Public Broadcasting System television programs that takes the viewer through the southern Appalachians, visiting traditional craftsmen and musicians. He also hosts "Riverwalk: Classic Jazz from the Landing" for Public Radio International.
Holt has taken his sounds of American folk music to Nepal, Thailand, South America and Africa. Holt's performance is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Ohio University, Athens County Library Services and Ohio's Hill Country Heritage Area Program.
Holt will also host a storytelling workshop 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 5, in Anderson Auditorium in Scripps Hall on Ohio University's Athens campus. Holt will also perform at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at Robbins' Crossing as part of Hocking College's Hock Hocking Folk Festival.