Roosevelt Holts was born in 1905 near the town of Tylertown in the state of Mississippi . In the 1930s, Roosevelt Holts played a little amateur guitar; his meeting with Tommy Johnsonwill change his life. Tommy Johnson is then married to Rosa Yongblood, cousin of Holts. Johnson and Holts get to know each other and Johnson teaches Holts the blues. When Johnson and his wife left Tylertown around 1937 to live in Jackson , the state capital, Roosevelt Holts followed them. He and Tommy are going to perform together in the city and those around it. After a year, Roosevelt returns to his hometown where he regularly performs. He learned the bottleneck technique from CP Martinand plays in the cities of the Delta  ; at that time, he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Released, he moved to Bogalusa , Louisiana , where he found employment at a paper mill. A work accident made him handicapped and prevented him from carrying any heavy load . He then worked as a farmer and hardly played until he was discovered by researcher David Evans who recorded him for the first time in 1968. A few records and a few tours in the United States followed in the 1970s. Age makes him leave the studios and he dies onFebruary 27, 1994in the city of Franklinton .