We were lucky to catch up with Sam Holt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I played in small bands in my twenties, but it was nothing significant. We played for fun and would get local gigs. I ended up becoming the guitar technician for the band Widespread Panic. Their lead guitarist Michael Houser heard me play when I would be testing his rig, and other times when we were in the rehearsal room or just messing around. He told me, “I think you should be playing and doing your own thing” I loved my gig working for my favorite band so much that I never really thought about that seriously. When Mike passed away in 2002, it devastated everyone in Widespread Panic world. I thought about what he told me. I had been playing with some friends for fun and we had a band. But then I thought, life is short and if Mike thought I could do this, let’s go for it. He also gave me his amplifier and asked me if I would use it? I told him yes I would.
I stayed another few years with Panic and got to the point where I was sitting in with them quite a bit. It was a crazy time as I was working and playing with Panic and ramping up my own band Outformation. Outformation was playing more and more, and we would sometimes play late night after the Panic shows all across the country.
At the end of 2006 Panic had their next full time guitarist and were ready to start the next step of their evolution, and I was ready to go full time with my band Outformation.

Sam, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I kind of stumbled into being a musician, as detailed in the previous answer. The Sam Holt Band was formed in 2012 after my previous band Outformation split. We have had the same line-up since 2014.
We released one album, “Southern Angels”. Our main avenue for creativity is playing live shows. I am proud of our band. Even though there are a lot of considerations into making a band functional, it all comes back to our love of the music. We believe in what we are doing.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

If you like an artist’s music then support them. Go see them live, buy some merchandise, subscribe to their membership services like Patreon or consider a one time donation. Very few musicians can make any money from their recordings, but if their music speaks to you or moves you, support them!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Recently we played in Chattanooga, TN. After the show a girl and tell me they drove from Knoxville to see us and how much they loved it. He told that they listen to our music and it really means a lot to them. That blew me away that they would travel to see us. It reminded me how powerful music is and how I used to do the same thing to see bands I loved.

Contact Info:

• Website: samholtband.com
• Instagram: @samholtband
• Facebook: @samholtmusic
• Twitter: @samholtband
• Youtube: Sam Holt Band

Image Credits
pic 1 Alexandria Smith pic 2 Home Team Photography pic 3 Christian Stewart pic 4 design by JT Lucchesi pic 5 Thomas G Smith