Steve Holland (Molly Hatchett) was born Feb. 22, 1954, in Dothan, Alabama. He began playing guitar at the age of 8, and moved to Jacksonville, Florida in the early 70’s.
He met Dave Hlubek, who had started the band in 1971 at a local record store in Jacksonville, FL. Holland joined in 1974 as the band was forming its classic six-piece lineup. The rest of the principal members of the original band were in place by 1976, eventually signing to Epic Records. But the band didn’t rise to national prominence until 1978, when the place crash involving fellow Jacksonville-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd left a void in the Southern rock space. Molly Hatchet stepped up with the release of their self-titled record and then in 1979 with the album Flirtin’ With Disaster is what put them on the national map. Steve played on the band’s first five albums, leaving after the release of 1983’s “No Guts … No Glory.” He is credited as a co-writer on some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Bounty Hunter,” “Whiskey Man” and “Gator Country.
The band released six studio albums on Epic Records between 1978 and 1984, including the platinum-selling hit records Molly Hatchet (1978), Flirtin’ with Disaster (1979) and Beatin’ the Odds (1980). They also had charting singles on the US Billboard charts, including “Flirtin’ with Disaster“.
Steve Holland recorded on 6 Molly Hatchet records and performed with the band through their heyday, leaving in 1983 after the band released the album No Guts…No Glory as the band was adopting a more hard rock sound. Holland chose to leave Molly Hatchet when it became more of a business than a band. “He decided he had enough of the cutthroat atmosphere and it wasn’t fun any more, so he retired,” long time friend John Pappas said. He was replaced by keyboardist John Gavin, reportedly telling John Galvin, the keyboardist in Danny Joe Brown’s solo band, “Wanna be in the band? You can take my place, I’ve had enough” during a show with Sammy Hagar in Detroit. Galvin accepted,
Holland never returned to Molly Hatchet, but there was a reunion of five of the original members — Roland was the exception — at a 1999 benefit after Brown had a stroke.
He later led the Steve Holland Band and played on and off with the Southern Rock Allstars. Holland later formed the band Gator Country in 2005 with former members of Molly Hatchet.
Molly Hatchet, named after a passionate female axe murderer, featured a triple-guitar lineup, with Holland sharing duties with Hlubek and Duane Roland. The classic lineup of the band also included singer Danny Joe Brown, bass player Banner Thomas and drummer Bruce Crump. All of them have now crossed the rainbow into Rock and Roll Paradise. Singer Danny Joe Brown passed away in 2005, guitarist Duane Roland died in 2006, drummer Bruce Crump passed in 2015, and guitarist Dave Hlubeck and bassist Banner Thomas died in 2017.
He made his home on St. Simons Island, where he found sobriety in 2009 and became an every-Sunday church goer. He passed away on August 2, 2020 after a long illness at age 66.
Holland posted a video to fans several months earlier in which he said: “Hey, y’all. Thanks for all your wishes and prayers and stuff. Love you. Thanks for putting up with me all these years. Turn it up!”
