Michael Holt (musician)

Michael Holt is a musician who lives in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1968, and raised in New York City, where he learned to play the piano as a child. He was a childhood friend of sociologist Dalton Conley.

In high school (Hunter College High School) in the early 1980s, he formed a band called The Connotations, which played regularly at CBGB and other downtown clubs in New York. Holt played keyboards, sang, and wrote most of the group's songs. The membership of the band changed from time to time; other members included Dan Seiden (guitar, vocals), Dan Fisherman (drums, vocals), Simon Walsh (bass guitar, vocals), Bob Dee (guitar), and Sam Bardfeld (violin, percussion, vocals). The Connotations's style was a combination of ska, new wave, reggae, pop, and rock and roll.

In 1992, The Connotations broke up when Holt and Fisherman left to join The Mommyheads and moved to San Francisco, California. Holt played with The Mommyheads, along with Adam Cohen (now Adam Elk) (guitar), Jeff Palmer (bass), and Matt Patrick (now Devin Patrick) (guitar), for five years, touring extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and recording several albums. The band recorded its last album in 1997.

After The Mommyheads broke up, Holt moved to Toronto, where he currently lives. He has recorded several solo albums, including his 2003 release Pilot Single, and continues to perform at small local venues in Toronto and New York. He is a regular collaborator with David Celia, another Toronto musician. He guests on Bob Wiseman's 2012 record Giulietta Masina At The Oscars Crying and played the 20th anniversary of In Her Dream.