Tege Holt fell in love with music the first time he picked up a guitar.
Holt, who will be a Carmel High School junior in August, started playing when he was around 4 years old.
“I just picked up a guitar. I was on the driveway with my dad and he played the song ‘Pink Houses’ by John Mellencamp, and I fell in love with that song,” Holt said. “Everybody, when we went to reunions on my mom’s side of the family, they would all pick up guitars, and we played around in a circle. I picked it up and just started singing shortly after that. That was about 12 years ago. Now, we have about 55 shows this year.”
Holt, 17, was nominated for two honors for the Josie Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn. He is nominated for Artist of the Year in the Young Adult Male and Fans Choice Male categories. Josie is the largest music award show in the independent music industry. The show will be Oct. 27 at Grand Ole Opry House.
“I’m excited to go to Nashville and walk the red carpet,” Holt said.
Holt performed live on South Bend TV station WNDU-TV with his song “Irish Found” about Notre Dame. He said the song is about taking a trip north on U.S. 31 and meeting a girl at one of the Notre Dame games. U93, a South Bend radio station, debuted the song the day before it was officially released. It was released – appropriately – on St. Patrick’s Day.
“It’s about having the Notre Dame spirit,” Holt said.
Among the places Holt has performed are the Fishers Farmers Market, Noblesville Farmers Market, Bier Brewery North in Carmel, Urban Vines and Grand Junction Brewery in Westfield. He also has performed twice at Carmel’s PorchFest.
Holt plays his original songs and covers.
“First, I was starting to do a lot of covers, but we are starting to get more original songs worked into my live songs,” he said.
Holt has 10 songs out on streaming platforms. Four of his songs are on an 2021 EP called “Let Me Go,” and the rest are singles. His first song, “Reason to Believe,” came out in March 2020. He has some other songs written that have not been produced yet, but he plans to release another EP or album later this year.
Holt said some of his favorite current country artists are Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Bailey Zimmerman. Older favorites include Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Mellencamp.
“I think a lot of artists are doing this, you’re not as specifically bound to a genre anymore,” he said. “I’m seeing what kind of music I like to write. It’s more about creating the music and then seeing what genre fits, instead of picking a genre and putting my music there.”
Holt started performing live when he was 14 years old.
“I love entertaining people, so playing live is a lot of fun. As far as creating my own music, I think there’s a lot of times I’m just sitting in my basement until very early in the morning or late at night. I’m sitting down there playing guitar and just kind of creating stuff. I think both are a lot of fun.”
Holt said his goal is to make a career in music. He did band for two years in middle school but stopped to pursue his own music. He played football from second grade through his freshman year before giving it up. At CHS, he does social media posts for the school’s sports teams. He said it helps him with marketing skills.
“He works hard,” said Karen Holt, his mother. “From the time he was 4, he was the one begging to take lessons. He wants to do it. I say he was born with a song in him because he always wanted to do it.”
For more, visit tegeholt.com.
