Custom ActionBar theme not working

I am trying to customize the look and feel of an action bar and it doesn't seem to work. The background is showing up grey when i am specifically setting it to a red.

my build.gradle

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 22
    buildToolsVersion "22.0.1"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.eliddell.rapsheet"
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 22
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    wearApp project(':wear')
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:22.0.0'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:7.0.0'
}

styles.xml

<resources>
    <!-- Base application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
        <!-- Customize your theme here. -->
    </style>
    <style name="CustomActionBarTheme"
        parent="@style/AppTheme">
        <item name="android:actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    </style>
    <!-- ActionBar styles -->
    <style name="MyActionBar"
        parent="@style/CustomActionBarTheme">
        <item name="android:background">@color/red</item>
    </style>
</resources>

manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.eliddell.rapsheet" >

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/CustomActionBarTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:theme="@style/CustomActionBarTheme"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

main activity

    import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;


public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
        int id = item.getItemId();

        //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement
        if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
            return true;
        }

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
}

if i update my styles to:

<resources>

    <!-- Base application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Holo.Light">
        <!-- Customize your theme here. -->
    </style>

    <style name="CustomActionBarTheme"
        parent="@style/AppTheme">
        <item name="android:actionBarStyle">@style/MyActionBar</item>
    </style>

    <!-- ActionBar styles -->
    <style name="MyActionBar"
        parent="@android:style/Widget.Holo.Light.ActionBar.Solid.Inverse">
        <item name="android:background">@color/red</item>
    </style>

</resources>

then i briefly see the color change but the app crashes:

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: You need to use a Theme.AppCompat theme (or descendant) with this activity.