Gary Holt (musician)

Gary Holt (musician)
Gary Wayne Holt (born May 4, 1964) is an American musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the guitarist, bandleader, and main songwriter for thrash metal band Exodus and was a member of Slayer from 2011 to 2019, replacing Jeff Hanneman on a temporary guitarist due to an illness in 2011, and on a permanent guitarist after Hanneman's death in May 2013.
Career
Exodus
After guitarist Tim Agnello left Exodus in 1981, Holt joined the band and has been the main songwriter and the most senior member of the group ever since. Following Kirk Hammett's 1983 departure from Exodus to join Metallica, Holt kept the band going and for many years, he and Rick Hunolt were referred to as the Exodus' "H-Team" guitar players. Holt is the only member of Exodus who has played on every album.
Slayer
On February 12, 2011, it was announced that Holt would be temporarily filling in for Jeff Hanneman in the band Slayer. Holt also played with Slayer for the Big 4 Concert in Indio, California on April 23, 2011, as well as Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas on November 6, 2011. Holt was later confirmed to be a permanent member of Slayer, following Hanneman's death on May 2, 2013, and stayed with the band until their split, following the conclusion of their 2018–2019 farewell tour. He also recorded guitar tracks on Slayer's 2015 album Repentless, but did not have any writing contributions on the album, except for guitar solos.
Other work
In October 2008, Holt released an instructional guitar video called "A Lesson in Guitar Violence". He also produced Warbringer's second album, Waking into Nightmares. In 2019 he was included on "Cheapside Sloggers", a song on Volbeat's Rewind, Replay, Rebound.
Equipment
Holt endorses ESP Guitars as of September 2014 and has a signature version of the Eclipse model, ending his relationship with Schecter Guitar Research, where he previously had various signature models. He has also used Ibanez, B.C. Rich, Jackson Guitars, Bernie Rico Jr., and Yamaha guitars.
For amplification, he currently uses a Marshall Silver Jubilee in Slayer and an ENGL Savage 120 in Exodus as well as a Kemper Profiling amp. In the past, he has used a modified Marshall JCM800, Mesa Boogie Mark III, Marshall JVM, Peavey Triple XXX, and ENGL Savage 120. Before using the Silver Jubilee, DSL100H and Marshall JVM amps with Slayer, Holt made use of Jeff Hanneman's touring rack.
Musical influences
Holt's main guitar influences are Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Uli Jon Roth, Matthias Jabs and Ted Nugent. His favorite bands include Venom, Motörhead, Black Sabbath, early Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.
Personal life
Outside of music, Holt enjoys foreign and period films.
According to Holt, the track "War Is My Shepherd" on the album Tempo of the Damned is a treatise of America's "pro-God" and "pro-war" stance and how he feels the two beliefs are incompatible with each other.
Holt endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, stating, "I used to have a lot of respect for McCain, but he realized after the dirty defeat that he suffered at the hands of George W. Bush in the South Carolina primary in the (2000) election that he can only get elected if he plays the Karl Rove tactic b.s. He's doing it. It's just one debunked lie after the other. He's the kind of guy who will tell you the sky is red, you look up and it's blue, and he won't admit he's wrong. He's playing dirty politics. Palin is just terrifying, the thought of this lady being a heart attack away from having the nuclear codes. She's crazy and she's dumb."
In the 2004 election, Holt vouched for John Kerry, but conceded that "they're all dirty crooks, all politicians. But at least (Kerry) wasn't a coward. He fought in Vietnam whereas George W. Bush Jr. was a draft dodger."
In 2017, he referred to President Donald Trump as a "serial liar" and an "embarrassment to this country, this world, and everyone living in it."
Holt is an atheist. In October 2017, he became a vegan.
On December 17, 2018, his father Billie Charles Holt (born July 6, 1933) died.
On March 18, 2020, Holt began exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. By March 31, 2020, he had tested positive for the virus, although by then he had already recovered.
Discography
Exodus
1982: 1982 Demo
1985: Bonded by Blood
1987: Pleasures of the Flesh
1989: Fabulous Disaster
1990: Impact Is Imminent
1991: Good Friendly Violent Fun
1992: Lessons in Violence
1992: Force of Habit
1997: Another Lesson in Violence
2004: Tempo of the Damned
2005: Shovel Headed Kill Machine
2007: The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A
2008: Let There Be Blood
2008: Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live at Wacken & Other Assorted Atrocities
2010: Exhibit B: The Human Condition 2014: Blood In, Blood Out 2021: Persona Non GrataSlayer
2015: Repentless2019: The Repentless KillogyAsylum
1990: Asylum (Demo)Destruction
2008: D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.Heathen
2009: The Evolution of ChaosHypocrisy
2005: VirusLaughing Dead
1990: Demo 1990 (Demo)Metal Allegiance
2015: Metal Allegiance [Gift of Pain]
Panic
1991: EpidemicUnder
1998: Under (EP)Warbringer
2009: Waking into NightmaresWitchery
2010: Witchkrieg''
References
External links
Metal Express interview
1964 births
American atheists
American heavy metal guitarists
American male guitarists
California Democrats
Exodus (American band) members
Guitarists from California
Living people
Musicians from Richmond, California
Slayer members
20th-century American guitarists
Thrash metal musicians