Meet Fundraiser Musicians David Holt and the Lightning Bolts and Don Pedi

The Shindig Fundraiser will feature Old Time music with a new time jolt: David Holt and the Lightning Bolts. Modern listeners will find Don Pedi striking a chord as well. Legendary musician, storyteller and four-time Grammy award winner David Holt performs with his five-piece band the Lightning Bolts for the Shindig on the Green Fundraising Concert, Saturday December 1st at 7:00pm at the Upper Anderson Auditorium at Montreat College.

The Lightning Bolts feature an all-local line-up of instrumental superstars: Laura Boosinger on guitar, Josh Goforth on fiddle, Jeff Hersk on bass, and Byron Hedgepeth on percussion. The wide diversity of ages, styles and dynamic personalities gives David Holt and the Lightning Bolts the spark that keeps their music fresh, fun and fired up. “The musicianship is impeccable. Their concerts resonate with energy from start to finish,” says Singout! Magazine.

For over thirty years, David Holt has been living in the Blue Ridge Mountains collecting and performing the songs and stories of the old-time mountaineers. His passion for traditional music and culture has fueled his successful performing and recording career. David Holt performs solo, with the Lightning Bolts, with Josh Goforth, and for over fourteen years he performed with the legendary late Doc Watson on their “Hills of Home” tour.

The exceptional line-up of the Lightning Bolts offers experience and excellent musicianship:

• Laura Boosinger (guitar) has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of North Carolina’s most talented singers and interpreters of the music of the Southern Appalachians through her concert performances, recordings, and Arts In Education programs. Boosinger is the Executive Director of the Madison County Arts Council.
• Josh Goforth (fiddle) is a rising star of acoustic music, the youngest three-time Fiddler of the Festival winner at Fiddler’s Grove, and a Grammy nominee. Goforth has toured extensively with a variety of ensembles, and his playing can be heard in the movie Songcatcher, both onscreen and on the soundtrack.
• Jeff Hersk (bass) is a fixture on the local music scene, playing with several bands in local venues, at large festivals such as Merlefest, and with the Blue Ridge Orchestra. Hersk serves on staff each year for The Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College.
• Byron Hedgepeth (percussion) is among the most versatile percussionists in the southeast, performing and recording regularly with a wide variety of artists across genres from jazz to classical to old-time music. A devoted educator, Hedgepeth implemented and developed the percussion program at UNC-Asheville in 1981 and served as Director of Percussion Studies there until 2005.

For over forty years, Don Pedi has amazed and delighted audiences with his unique "Fiddle-Pick" style of playing the dulcimer. Drawing on decades of association with many of the best musicians in the Southern mountains, as well as his deep commitment to preserving the old music, Pedi carries on the tradition in an exciting and innovative fashion, winning over modern listeners with his traditional sound.

Pedi won first place in the first contest he ever entered at the 1974 Fiddler's Grove Festival, in Union Grove, North Carolina. Before retiring from festival competitions in 1982, he garnered over thirty first place trophies and awards.

Pedi currently performs solo, as a duo with old-time fiddler Bruce Greene, or in a group with Bruce. In 2003, Don represented Appalachia at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Pedi and his music appear in the motion pictures Songcatcher and The Journey of August King. Since 1985 Don Pedi has served as an on air host at NPR affiliate station WCQS-FM in Asheville on the program, "Close to Home," which features traditional, old-time, and classic folk music.

Pedi teaches at events ranging from those with hundreds of participants, such as The Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College and Mountain Dulcimer Week at Western Carolina University, to his own Tao of Dulcimer Retreat, which is limited to fifteen participants.