Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 13, 2008 issue
High Country Local Musician Spotlight: Holden Bare
Story by David Brewer
Note: Over the next few weeks, High Country Press will feature High Country musicians who perform regularly, but often without the fanfare afforded to touring acts. These players provide entertainment at local bars and restaurants week in and week out and it’s high time you get to know these people.
For more than a decade, Jefferson native Holden Bare has been plying his trade as a multitalented musician in the High Country. Playing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at Chetola’s Headwaters Pub, Bare’s incredibly diverse classic rock catalogue of classic rock tunes from the late 1960s and early 1970s keeps him busy entertaining throughout the year.
“I’m like a human jukebox,” said Bare. “I do classic rock and make it sound like it’s supposed to sound. I tell people to pick an artist and I’ll make it sound just like ‘em.”
Playing music since his early teens, Bare didn’t always count on his six-string and piano skills to earn his living. But in the mid-1990s, he decided he had had enough of his day job and, with his wife’s blessing, put his skills as a guitarist and pianist to work.
“I just got tired of business,” said Bare. “I asked my wife’s permission to play music for a living and asked her to give me one year.”
Bare began in earnest, offering his services to restaurants for nothing more than a meal and an opportunity to put out a tip jar. His confidence in his abilities as a musician coupled with his insistence on perfecting his performance of classic songs quickly won him fans wherever he played. When the restaurants asked Bare to come and play again, he informed them that he’d be happy to play for a fee. Fortunately, the restaurants paid and kept him from working a day job.
Over the last four years, Bare has spent his weekend residency at Headwaters perfecting his act by gauging audiences’ reactions to songs and tailoring his sets accordingly. From radio classics to the most obscure b-sides, the tunesmith prides himself on his ability to deliver just what customers want to hear—a skill that has earned him some big tips over the years.
“You start to recognize these people and figure out what makes their evening. It’s got to be good enough where people go, ‘man, that was fun,’” said Bare. “I look at it like if I went to dinner, would I want to hear me play?”
Bare has nothing but praise for Chetola and its staff that continues to accommodate him each weekend. Chetola owner Kent Tarbutton once joked that the resort had a burial plot on the grounds reserved for Bare.
“[Chetola] is really good to me,” said Bare.
In addition to performing as a solo act, Bare is also a member of area Pink Floyd cover band Dark Side of the Boone with his friend Jimmy Crippen. Bare is adamant that the High Country is full of talented local musicians who toil in the shadows without receiving their due.
“Up here, a lot of good musicians don’t get a lot of credit,” said Bare. “People can play a lot of different stuff up here.”
although his evenings are often devoted to playing songs by the likes of James Taylor, Yes, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Jackson Browne, Jimi Hendrix and others, Bare and his wife Tammi also operate Lighthouse Ministries, a local nonprofit that provides food and groceries for more than 200 individuals each month.
After 12 years as a professional musician, Bare has no reservations about his decision to leave the business world. Practicing an average of two hours a day, he is dedicated to his role as a “human jukebox” and shows no signs of stopping.
“Who’d want to quit a job like this?” Bare asked.
To hear song samples or watch performance video clips, click to www.holdenbare.com.
Want To Go?
Date: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays
Time: 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Location: Headwaters Pub at Chetola
Cost: FREE!