Bob Holt (fiddler)

{{short description|American fiddler}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Bob Holt

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|11|25}}

| birth_place = Ava, Missouri

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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|03|19|1930|11|25}}

| death_place = Ava, Missouri

| genre = Old-time music

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Fiddle

| years_active = 1947–2004

| label = Rounder

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Bob Holt was an American fiddler, playing old-time and for square dances. He was known for his lightning-fast, energetic style of playing. He played his signature song "Ninth of January" at as much as 144 beats per minute while playing for dances.{{cite book |last=Marshall |first=Howard Wight |year=2017 |chapter=Lonnie Robertson|title=Fiddler's Dream: Old-Time, Swing, and Bluegrass Fiddling in Twentieth-Century Missouri |location=Columbia, MO |publisher=University of Missouri Press |page=64|isbn=978-0-8262-2121-6|oclc=2017933621}} He was born on November 25, 1930, in Ava, Douglas County, Missouri.{{cite book |last=Govenar |first=Alan |year=2001 |chapter=Bob Holt: Anglo-American Ozark Fiddler|title=Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary |volume=1 (A-J)|location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-Clio |pages=277–278|isbn=1576072401|oclc=47644303}} He died March 19, 2004, in Ava.

Holt was a recipient of a 1999 National Heritage Fellowship in the amount of $10,000{{cite web |url=http://www.morninmail.com/_archives/9may28.html |title=Ozarks Fiddler Honored with Heritage Fellowship |author= |date=1999 |website=www.morninmail.com |publisher=Heritage Publishing |access-date=10 November 2017}} from the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1999 |title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1999 |author= |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521115137/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1999 |archive-date=May 21, 2020 |url-status=dead}}